Chapter two

Christian

I have never felt rage like the rage I was feeling right now with Ana trembling in my arms. It was bad enough to find Ana the way she was and imagining what she had been through especially when I saw that Gino was naked but to see my sister in so much pain threatened to push me over the edge. I wanted to kill someone with my bare hands but first I needed to know that everyone was okay.

No one spoke on the way to the hospital I hadn't even asked Ana how far Gino had gone with her which I knew I would have to ask at some point but I dreaded the answer.

I knew Alesso was feeling just as angry as I was judging by the death grip he had on Alice's hand and the constant clenching of his jaw. Gino and the sack of shit that was lying in front of Jessica were going to suffer when we got our hands on them.

We pulled into the hospital car park, and I climbed out pulling Ana into my arms refusing to put her down. I needed to feel her because she was the only thing keeping me calm.

As we walked through the hospital, I ignored the stares that were thrown our way. We made it to the desk as a middle-aged woman hurried over with a wheelchair that I am sure was for Ana but that wasn't fucking happening. If I put her down, I would kill someone.

"She is fine in my arms. She needs to be checked over she was attacked, and she's pregnant." The woman frowned at me but one look at my face and she wisely kept her mouth shut and called for a doctor who quickly took us to a private room. It was only then that I place Ana down on the bed as gently as I could, but I never let go of her hand.

When the doctor noticed how Ana was dressed, she gave her a soft sympathetic smile. "My name is Doctor Miller I will be taking care of you."

"I'm Christian and this is Ana." I didn't bother with pleasantries I just wanted to know that Ana and the baby were okay.

"I heard you say that your wife was attacked. Have the police been informed or would you like us to call them?"

My heart soared when she called Ana my wife because as far as I was concerned the second, she said yes to marrying me she was my wife the rest was paperwork. "They have already been dealt with we didn't want to wait for an ambulance, so we brought them in ourselves."

"Them?"

"My sister was brought in just before we arrived, she's pregnant as well she's having a little girl. She was having stomach pains."

"Do you want me to have someone check to see how she is doing?"

"Yes, please. Her name is Mia Morino. Her husband brought her in. His name is Luca." I needed to know that Mia was okay so that I could concentrate on Ana.

The door opened making Ana jump and I tightened my arms around her as a nurse came into the room holding a hospital gown in one hand and a sample pot in the other. "This is Nurse Anderson she will be helping me take care of you. Ana, do you feel well enough to get changed? Or do you need the nurse to help you?"

"I can help her!" No way was anyone else helping Ana but me.

"Are you okay with that, Ana?"

"Yes, I don't want Christian to leave." Knowing that Ana still felt safe with me after everything and knowing that this all happened because of me helped me relax a little.

"Okay, I'll be back in a few minutes." Doctor Miller left the room while the nurse busied herself beside the bed.

"There is a bathroom through that door that you can get changed in. Do you need anything?" The nurse smiled softly at Ana before turning to me and blushing.

"Can I have some water, please?"

"Of course, I'll be right back." I lifted Ana in my arms and carried her to the bathroom shutting the door behind me before placing her down gently. Ana started to remove my Jacket and her ruined dress as I crouched down in front of her and checked every inch of her for injury.

When I saw the bruises on her wrists underneath the cuffs that she still had on and the bruises on her inner thighs that looked like her legs had also been restrained I stood back up pacing back and forth desperate for something or someone to punch.

"I'm so fucking sorry this happened, princess. This is all my fucking fault." Ana fastened her gown and then stood in front of me holding my face in her hands ending my pacing.

"Listen to me, Christian, please! This isn't your fault. This is Gino's and Isabelle's fault, not yours. Please, baby, don't blame yourself for this." The tears in Ana's eyes broke my heart so I leaned down and kissed her forehead and wrapped my arms around her.

"You need to do the urine sample then we need to get you back to bed, princess."

"Okay, I'll be back out in a minute."

"Ana, I'm not leaving you alone so do what you have to do. I'm staying here."

"Christian, come on, be reasonable."

"I will turn around but I'm not leaving. We can stand here and argue about this, or you could do what you have to and get back into bed." Ana huffed and sulked which made me smile seeing the fire I loved so much hadn't died.

A few minutes later Ana had finished and washed up, so I carried her back to bed arriving just as Doctor Miller and the nurse walked back in. "Did you find out how my sister is?" Ana held onto my hand tight as we both waited to find out how Mia was.

"Your sister is doing okay. She is still in pain but it's not contractions it's from the trauma of her fall. She'll be kept in for a few days to keep an eye on both mum and baby, but the baby's heartbeat is strong, and they have done a scan, and everything is fine. As I said she is being kept in as a precaution. So, why don't we make sure you and baby are okay now that you know your sister-in-law and niece are doing well?

Ana breathed a sigh of relief that matched my own though I wouldn't fully relax until Ana and our baby were given a clean bill of health. "We need to take some blood tests and I just want to have a quick feel of your tummy then I want to look at the nasty cut on your lip and the bruise and cut on your head."

I refused to leave Ana's side the entire time that she was being checked over and once they had finished, I sat beside her and wrapped my arms around her, and the second the Doctor and Nurse left the room I asked Ana the question I had been dreading asking.

I turned so that I could look into her eyes and stroked her cheek before placing a gentle kiss on her cut lip and bruised head before pulling back. "I need to know, princess did Gino…"

"No. If it wasn't for Jessica, he would have but he didn't. I promise." Relief washed over me knowing that my worst fears hadn't happened. Ana relaxed in my arms and within a few minutes, she was breathing softly and fast asleep.

While Ana slept, I checked my phone for any updates and smiled when I saw a very bloody and bruised Gino sitting next to the asshole whose name I didn't know. He was definitely new because I knew most of Gino's men but the ones that took them tonight, I had never seen before.

I was replying to emails and texts when the Doctor walked back in and smiled at Ana who was curled into my side still fast asleep. She looked so peaceful and so incredibly beautiful.

"How's she doing?" The nurse whispered while checking over the many machines that were beeping relentlessly.

"She's exhausted. When can I take her home?"

"Well, her HCG levels are good, but we do need to check them in a couple of days again to make sure her levels continue to grow. I would like to keep her here overnight because of the injury to her head."

Ana began to stir beside me as she slowly woke up. "Can we go home?"

"We are keeping you in overnight Ana I was just telling your husband that because of your head injury, we need to keep an eye on you. I do have some questions that I need to ask you Ana because of your state of undress when you came in I don't know if you want to talk to me in private or not."

"I know what you're going to ask, but I wasn't raped." The Doctor smiled at Ana and squeezed her arm affectionately.

"Good. How's the pain in your head?"

"It's still sore but not as bad as it was. Can I ask did two other women come in, Jessica and Alice? They were with us and were hit on the head as well."

"I'll go and see what I can find out. Do you need anything for the pain?"

"No, thank you but I don't want to take anything." The Doctor gave Ana one more smile and left the room.

After the Doctor had informed us that Alice and Jessica had been released and had been taken home Ana relaxed and quickly fell back to sleep. They had wanted to see Ana but because she was asleep, they didn't want to disturb her.

I must have managed to get no more than an hour of sleep when I woke up to Ana covered in a light sheen of sweat and crying in her sleep. I gently shuck her shoulders to wake her and when she woke up, she gasped and clung onto me as she sobbed into my shoulder.

"You're okay, baby. I've got you. No one will ever hurt you again." I stroked her hair and rocked her gently back and forth until she calmed down, trying desperately to temper the rage inside me.

Gino and Isabelle were going to pay so fucking much for this.

Once Ana had calmed down, she sat back wiping her eyes just as Doctor Miller walked into the room. "Good morning how are you feeling, Ana?"

"I had a bad dream but other than that and a slight headache I feel fine I just want to go home."

"Well, I'm here to discharge you once we have checked you over and made sure you are well enough. When you get home, I want you to rest, and no stress. You'll need to come back tomorrow so that we can check your HCG levels and make sure they are going up. Then if all goes well, we will book you in for your first scan in a couple of weeks. Do you have any questions?"

Ana looked like she was desperate to get out of there as she clambered to get off the bed. "Ana, relax. Mark is on his way with some clothes for you. You can't go home in your hospital gown." I smiled down at her indulgently when she looked like she would start sulking and all I wanted to do was hide her from the world to keep her safe.

It was another hour or so before we were finally able to go home but before we did we both wanted to see Mia, to make sure she was okay. Ana had wanted to walk but I insisted on either carrying her or pushing her in a chair, so she decided the chair was the least embarrassing of the two choices.

As we made our way into Mia's room, I felt myself relax when I heard the familiar sound of my sister barking orders at Luca. "Luca, I am not staying here. I will be perfectly fine at home in bed. Please, can you ask them if I can go home if we hire a fucking nurse?"

"Mia, I could hear you down the hall, stop shouting. There are people in here that are sick." Mia gave us a bright smile when she saw us walking through the door.

"Ana, thank God. Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, honey. How are you and baby doing?"

"We're fine the pain was just from the fall. Christian, please can you ask them to let me come home?"

"I'm not getting involved, Mia. If they think you need to stay in the hospital, then you need to stay in the hospital think about my niece. It's not worth the risk."

"Fine, but you do not kill Gino until I can be there. I will be so pissed off if I don't get my revenge for what he did to us."

"You have my word, besides; Ana is under strict instructions to rest so I won't be going anywhere until she is better. Gino can sit down there and fucking sweat until we can all be there to get our pound of flesh."

"That's if there is anything left of him by then." I turned to Luca frowning as he flipped through his phone and showed us a picture of a very bloody Gino.

"Who the fuck did that?" I wasn't bothered that he was hurt I just wanted him alive until we could all watch him die.

"That would be Ana's bloodthirsty friend Jessica. I think Arturo and Cillian are in love. When she got back from the hospital last night, she demanded to be taken to Gino so Arturo took her down to the basement and he and Cillian watched as she… well let's just say she is trained in MMA and she is a chef so she is a wiz with a knife. She knew where to hit him to hurt him but not damage him too much she literally spent hours torturing him trying to find out where Isabelle is."

"Did she get anything from him?" I had to say I was impressed with Jessica she would fit in with this family very fucking well.

"No, Gino is keeping quiet when it comes to his daughter. He did beg for death though." I couldn't keep the smile from my face and when I looked down at Ana, I was shocked to see the pride shining in her eyes.

"Has your friend always been like this?" Ana smiled up at me and nodded her head.

"She is really protective of me. Well, we are both protective of each other it's just that she knows how to kick ass."

"Well, I like her a lot. I think she will fit right in." Ana smiled at Mia, but I noticed when she did her smile didn't reach her eyes and she was beginning to look exhausted.

"Okay, I'm taking Ana home. If you need anything call me. We'll be back tomorrow; Ana has some more tests to have done. So, when we are here, we'll come and see you. If you want us to bring anything let us know. Ana's appointment is in the afternoon." Mia folded her arms over her chest sulking because she couldn't leave.

"Think of my niece, Mia. The days will fly by." I leaned down and kissed my sister's forehead then moved to let Ana in to hug her.

"Ana, how are you, honey? The way we found you… Did he…?"

"No, Mia, he didn't I promise." Mia visibly relaxed and hugged Ana tight.

"I love you like a sister, Ana. I was so scared when I heard you screaming, and then when I saw you, I felt sick thinking about what might have happened." Mia had tears in her eyes now which was a pretty rare occurrence. Mia could scream and shout and scare people just as much as I and our brothers could, but she hardly ever cried.

I saw from the corner of my eye Luca's hands balled up into fists and his jaw clenched and I knew the tears in his wife's eyes were breaking his heart I know because it was doing the same to me just like it did when Ana cried.

"I love you too, sweetie. Concentrate on getting better and coming home soon, please." My heart melted watching Ana talking to Mia in such a loving way. I was so fucking lucky to have such an amazing sister and the best wife in the world. The fact that Gino tried to take that from me nearly made me feel sorry for him. He was going to die a very horrible death and I wouldn't trade places with him for all the money in the world.

Ana

We arrived home shortly after leaving Mia and Luca at the hospital and the second we stepped through the front door I breathed a sigh of relief knowing that I was safe. I knew that Gino was in the basement, but I also knew that there would be no way for him to escape.

Even though I wanted to see Jessica and Alice and make sure they were okay I really needed to have a shower and wash what happened away. I felt dirty and I hated that Gino had touched me even though it didn't go as far as he had wanted I still felt violated and I hated it.

"Christian, I'm going to go for a shower then I will come straight back down I just want to get comfortable." Christian moved to lift me so that he could carry me up the stairs until I stopped him. "I will be really quick, I promise. I just want to get clean and comfortable, and I would really like something to eat." I knew Christian didn't want to leave me alone, but I needed a few minutes just to process everything that had happened.

"Okay, princess, but hurry, or I will come and get you myself." I gave Christian a small smile and walked up the stairs and into the bedroom, I shared with Christian. I didn't stop until I was in the bathroom and then I closed the door behind me.

When I was in the shower, I quickly cleaned myself up before what happened the night before came flooding back to me. The image of Gino seeing and touching my most intimate places. Seeing Mia in pain. Knowing what Gino had planned for not just me but all of us. It all hit me, and I collapsed to the shower floor sobbing.

I don't know how long I had been sitting in the shower and I wasn't aware when the bathroom door opened, and Christian came running in falling to his knees in the shower soaking his clothes as he rocked me back and forth stroking my hair and whispering soothing words.

We sat silent as my sobs faded and the tears stopped flowing and my body sagged against Christian in exhaustion. Christian pulled away and placed a hand under my cheek, lifting my face so I was staring into his beautiful eyes that looked almost green with flecks of caramel thanks to the bright lights of the bathroom.

"What happened, princess?"

"It hit me all at once, everything that happened. I guess I just needed to get it out of my system. I hate them, Christian. I hate them for what they did. For what they nearly did." Christian closed his eyes and leaned in to leave a lingering kiss on my forehead before he spoke.

"They will pay, I promise. All of them will pay for what they did and we will get married, have our baby and we will be happy while they will be six feet under." I could hear the edge of anger in Christian's voice and I wrapped my arms around him tighter feeling so safe in his arms. "Do you want to talk about what happened to you?

"No, not right now. I don't want to think about it."

After a few more minutes Christian stood up and stripped of his clothes and I couldn't help the butterflies that took flight in my stomach at the sight before me. No matter what happened the beauty of this man will forever mesmerize me. He was perfection and I couldn't have been more grateful that what happened hadn't made me recoil from Christian's naked form.

Christian walked away and grabbed two big towels wrapping one around his waist and walking back over to me lifting me after turning the water off and wrapping the towel around me. "Come on, princess. Jessica is practically pacing the floor waiting for you, Although I think she is pacing to stop Arturo and Cillian from fussing over her. The second she is still for longer than a few minutes one or both of them have their hands on her trying to settle her down."

I laughed at the image Christian painted for me and it pushed me to get dressed faster just to see them. Wearing sweatpants and one of Christian's t-shirts that smelled just like him, with my hair brushed and tied back Christian and I made our way downstairs.

I could hear Jessica as I walked down the hall telling someone to get off her and I smiled as I listened to how feisty she sounded. As soon as we walked into the living room, I had to hide my smile when Jessica dodged Cillian and Arturo as they tried to grab her.

"Finally, Ana can you please get Jessica here to sit the fuck down before she wears a hole in the carpet." I gave Arturo a small smile just as Jessica grabbed me and pulled me in for a tight hug. I could feel her shaking and when I pulled away from her, I saw tears in her eyes.

"I'm so glad you're okay, Ana. I was so worried when they said that you were staying in overnight, I was convinced something was wrong. Are you and the baby, okay?"

"I'm fine and as far as we know everything is fine with the baby. We have to go back tomorrow to check my HCG levels and that will tell us more, but I feel fine. Well, I feel sick, but I can only imagine that being a good thing so I'm not going to complain."

"Thank God. I swear I could kill that fucker for what he did."

"I saw the damage you did to Gino. I'm really impressed." Jessica grabbed my hand and walked me over to one of the sofas sitting me down never once letting go of my hand like she was scared if she did that I would disappear.

"I wanted to do more but some people said I couldn't." I loved that Jessica was sulking because she hadn't been allowed to inflict more pain on Gino and from the look of lust mixed with pride on Arturo and Cillian's faces, they felt the same.

"No doubt you will get to inflict more pain soon. Where's Alice?" I looked around the room and couldn't see Alice or Alesso anywhere.

"Alice is in Alesso's room. He said that she is really shaken up by what happened." I frowned at Christian hating that Alice was struggling so much.

"Do you think it would help if Jessica and I spoke to her?" Christian shrugged his shoulders, just as Alesso's voice came from the living room door.

"Anything's worth a try, Ana. Even if you can only get her to leave the room." I gave Christian a quick kiss before grabbing Jessica's hand and making our way to the hall.

"What room are you in?"

"Fifth door on your right." I gave Alesso's arm a reassuring squeeze before we made our way upstairs. When we were outside the bedroom door we knocked and waited but when there was no reply, I slowly opened the door to find Alice sitting on the bed resting her head on her knees and staring off into the distance.

"Alice, honey, are you okay?" Alice snapped her head around to face us then visibly breathed a sigh of relief.

"Thank God. I'm so glad you're back. Do you need me to get back to work?" I closed the door behind Jessica and I and went to sit on the bed next to Alice.

"No, honey. I want to know how you're feeling. I know what happened was terrifying and a lot to handle but I need you to know, sweetie, you're not alone."

"Alesso doesn't understand. He keeps saying I'm safe and that I don't need to worry because he will never let anyone hurt me ever again and I believe him, I know he would protect me with his life, but he grew up in this lifestyle. I barely know him, and I'm scared. Did you know that the guy that kidnapped us is in the house? He's in the fucking basement."

I grabbed one of Alice's hands in mine and I hated that she was trembling so much. "Alice, I promise he is perfectly secure where he is. Christian wouldn't have him in the house if there was any chance, he could escape. Trust me if I thought he could get free I would never have come back here."

"Does this lifestyle not scare you both?" Jessica and I looked at each other and Jessica shrugged smiling to herself.

"Nah. I'm not gonna lie, I had a lot of fun beating the shit out of Gino when we got home." Alice turned to Jessica in shock and Jessica shrugged once more. "I know it sounds bad, but we all know he deserves it. If he had got what he wanted, we would be dead and we would have no doubt gone through hell before the end came."

"But that's what I mean. We wouldn't have been in that situation if it wasn't for their lifestyle." I totally understand what Alice was talking about I'd had the same thoughts, but I was into deep. I was too in love with Christian to ever think about leaving him, no matter what happened or what the future held.

"Do you think you could walk away from Alesso, and go back to your old life, now?" Alice frowned as she thought about my question before she looked up at me with tears in her beautiful eyes.

"No, I couldn't. How do they make us fall in love so fast and hard?"

"We can take comfort in the knowledge that they fall just as hard and just as fast, honey. And you and I can take comfort in the fact that we only have to deal with one very overprotective stunning man. Poor Jessica has two."

Alice turned to Jessica in shock again and I couldn't believe that she had noticed the relationship developing between Jessica, Cillian, and Arturo. "You're with them both?" Alice didn't sound like she was judging in fact she looked like she wanted to hear all the details as her eyes widened and she smiled for the first time we came to see her.

"Don't listen to Ana. Nothing has happened between me, Arturo, and Cillian."

"Yet… nothing has happened yet, well, other than the sneaky kisses you don't think anyone has seen but we all know it will and why wouldn't you? Have you seen them? The sooner you give in to what you want the better." I smiled along with Alice as Jessica frowned at us both with a blush creeping up her cheeks.

"Do you think you could be with both of them?" Jessica bit her lip as she pondered Alice's question for a few minutes.

"I mean they are incredibly gorgeous there is no denying that but would it not look bad being in a relationship with two guys?"

"Oh, come on, Honey, who cares? It's your life and as long as you are not hurting anyone it's no one else's business besides I'm pretty sure any sane, single woman would jump at the chance of not just being with both of them but being theirs."

"For all we know, Ana, they could want me for one night and nothing more and that would leave me feeling stupid, and I would be devastated. Plus, it would be awkward being around them and as you are marrying their brother, I would be around them a lot and it would kill me to see them with someone else."

I could understand where Jessica was coming from, but she didn't see the way they looked at her or how they followed her every move when they were in the same room. "I don't think that's what they want, honey. Talk to them. How are you going to know what they want if you don't? You will kick yourself if you don't see what could happen."

"You need to listen to Ana, Jessica. She knows what she is talking about." All of us turned to see Arturo leaning against the door frame with his arms folded over his chest bulging at his biceps and a stunning smile on his face as he stared at Jessica.

"I was sent up here to get you for lunch and I'm glad I did." I grabbed Alice's hand and pulled her out of the room while Jessica shouted for us to wait up but before she could catch up Arturo grabbed her arm stopping her in her tracks.

"We will talk more about this later, beautiful, this conversation is not finished. No doubt Cillian will be very happy to know that you want us and that you want us for more than one night because trust me, Jessica, now that I know that you want us, get used to the fact that you are ours and we are yours and we will show you soon enough exactly what that means."

Alice and I stood at the top of the stairs staring wide-eyed in their direction unable to move until Arturo pulled Jessica in for an all-consuming kiss that had me clearing my throat and turning to go down the stairs where I bumped straight into Cillian's broad chest.

"What's up, ladies? You look a little flustered." I don't know why but I wanted to give Jessica a heads up feeling like she would think she was doing something wrong by kissing Arturo but as soon as Cillian looked in Jessica's direction his face lit up. "Thank fuck for that, we can stop fucking sneaking around."

Alice and I were once again stuck in place as we watched Cillian walk over to Jessica and Arturo and turn her around kissing Jessica with just as much passion as Arturo had.

When Arturo started to kiss her neck from behind, Alice and I snapped out of our shock and practically ran downstairs giggling as we entered the dining room. "Well, I don't know about you Christian, but I would love to know what has made these two so happy."

Alesso looked so relieved that Alice was smiling and seemed a lot better than she had earlier as he stood from his seat to kiss her and pull her seat out for her while Christian did the same for me.

No matter what kind of lifestyle these guys were into, one thing no one could take from them is that when it comes to the women, they love they would do anything for us, and they were always the perfect gentlemen. Well, out of the bedroom that is.

"It was nothing. Just girl's stuff." Christian and Alesso narrowed their eyes at me until a very flushed Jessica walked in followed by a very happy Cillian and Arturo. I hid my smile behind my hand as Christian plated up food for me and I saw Alice doing the same.

Jessica moved to sit beside me but before she could Arturo moved her so that she was sitting between him and Cillian.