Their Girl: The Hunt

Chapter Fifteen

"You're not a monster not in my eyes" I murmured and I started to feel us both relax into each other. Maybe this wasn't just about what he needed, maybe we both needed this.

Once his body seemed to relax and he wasn't panting anymore I stepped back away from him but slipped my hand into his pulling him along with me to sit on the couch, unexpectedly he laid himself down resting his head on my lap.

"Alec are you hurt?" I asked but he didn't say anything he just shook his head and I let out a little sigh of relief. At least he wasn't physically hurt right now.

"Who's blood is it?" I then asked hoping he wasn't going to say Freddie or Lorenzo. They'd all the together but he was the only one back. What if something had happened to them?

"I will kill him Alissandra, I'll kill them all for you" he muttered and that's when I realised this had something to do with Antonio. As he spoke his whole body started vibrating with rage again. That was why he was so angry.

"I know but we don't need to think about that right now" I replied gently stroking his hair.

"I never wanted you to see me like this. They broke me Alissandra and sometimes I just can't contain it" his pained voice went straight through me.

"Who broke you?" I asked, I needed him to open up to me so I could help him liked he'd been helping me.

"My parents, they were cruel people that shouldn't have been allowed to have children. They beat me, starved me and kept me caged up like an animal feeding me scraps like a dog" his voice was cracking as he spoke and I could feel him wince at the memories. "then when I was taken away I thought it would get better but my foster carers were worse. It wasn't until I found Freddie and Lorenzo that I finally had a family that cared about me" I didn't know any of this, they were always so comforting when it came to me talking about my childhood but i had no idea about theirs.

My heart broke for him. My caring, sensitive Alec didn't deserve that, that little blonde hair blue eyed boy had no one to protect him. I could feel the tears starting to build in my eyes and I tried my hardest not to let them spill free. I just sat there and listened to him incoherently mutter the same things over and over again until he seemed to slip into sleep.

It wasn't long before Lorenzo and Freddie came barging through the door with panicked looks on their faces. I quickly held my finger up to my mouth to signal for them to be quiet. They both looked down at Alec asleep in my lap and I could see them visibly start to relax.

"Luca called us" Freddie said quietly before he glanced down at my neck probably seeing the red mark that would undoubtedly be there from Alec's hand. "Did he hurt you?"

I shook my head they didn't need to know about him trying to choke me, it wasn't really him and i hoped he wouldn't be able to remember either. He would never forgive himself if he thought he really hurt me. "He told me about his parents" I whispered cautious not to wake him.

Lorenzo took a deep breath and they both took seats opposite us. They seemed a little more tense now and I could understand why, they cared about Alec as much as I did. My heart broke knowing that someone could treat their own child like that, knowing that someone could treat Alec that way. "They damaged him for life. Usually we can make sure he has a good grip on reality but sometimes" he started to explain but trailed off.

"Sometimes he's like this?" I said looking down at the broken man.

They both nodded and I tried my hardest not to cry. He was so broken and damaged just like me, I knew how he felt and that made it worse.

"In college he used to medicate which kept a good hold on it but it fucked him in other ways. He was like a zombie most the time so when we started building this life we gave him an outlet to channel all that rage" Freddie muttered quietly avoiding eye contact with me. They both did. They were ashamed.

"By letting him torture people?" I asked raising my eyebrows. I was a little pissed at them for being a part of this, letting him get like this. But I knew deep down it wasn't their fault they were just trying to help him in the only way they knew how. They both looked at me like they couldn't understand how I knew what he'd been doing, sometimes they really underestimated my intelligence "It wasn't hard to guess, he's covered in blood that isn't his and he told me he was like Antonio, scarring people like he did to me" I sighed shaking my head.

"It usually works but sometimes he goes to deep and we can't pull him out. He went off the rails for a few months and started working for Jennie's father as a hired gun. With no one pulling him back down to earth something snapped inside of him and one day he strung her father up and skinned him alive" Lorenzo explained and I gasped unable to comprehend Alec being able to do anything like that. "I know he seems together but a lot of that is because of you, somehow you've kept that side of him from coming out. You have done since the night you first stayed here" I kept it from coming out? That's what he was searching for, for me to bring him back and help him.

"Please don't let him do it anymore" I pleaded hoping they would actually listen to me. They may have thought letting him get his anger out this way was helping him but it wasn't, it would just make it worse over time. They both narrowed their eyes at me "you said I keep him from going off the rails right? So then I can still do that. I don't want him to lose himself because he's trying to get revenge for me. Let me be here for him, for all of you" I needed to stop hiding myself away. They all needed me as much as I needed them, although they thought they were good at hiding it I could tell they were falling apart. Freddie would disappear and come back stinking of booze with his knuckles all beaten up. Lorenzo worked all hours and well there was undoubtedly tension between him and Alec.

"Do you want us to wake him up?" Freddie asked but he seemed hesitant about it.

"No he's fine let him sleep for a while" I replied not wanting to unsettle him. He probably needed it after sitting up with me all night. Surprisingly I felt calm and relaxed, I guess being thrown in at the deep end and having no choice but to swallow down the trauma and fear actually worked. Not only did I help Alec but he helped me too.

They both nodded and got up to leave us, but Lorenzo paused briefly and looked over to us before sighing. "He loves you, you know that right"

"Oh I know" I replied with a smile and continued to look down at him peacefully sleeping. He may be the only one that hasn't actually said it to me yet but I know Alec loves me. I'd known it long before the other 2 had told me. He shows it with his actions even though I'm sure he doesn't even realise he's doing it. Maybe he just doesn't know how to really express it.