Their Girl: The Hunt

Chapter Eighteen

Alissandra's (POV)

Freddie agreed to stay with me whilst I got ready for whatever Lorenzo had planned and I was so grateful because it made me feel a little bit more comfortable about the situation. Lana seemed nice but she was still a complete stranger to me which I found unsettling. There was no denying that even though I'd come so far and been around lots of new people recently the only way I was able to bare it was because I always had Freddie, Alec or Lorenzo with me. As always they had been amazingly supportive for the last few weeks and I wasn't ashamed to admit I needed them, needed their comfort to get me through things like this.

So much had changed especially with them, each day it got easier and easier to be around them and eventually I craved to be close to them, I needed it. I'd even become less dependent on Luca which was a positive thing for me and him, he was finally able to start really living his life and of course the guys helped with that. They let him stay in one of their apartments in the city for practically nothing and he was working for them now. Turned out he had great people skills and that was pretty useful for them see as most the guys they had working for them were scary as fuck to look at and most people shit a brick when they saw them coming, Even though he wasn't around as much I still spent some time with him, I guess we'd kind of forged a friendship from an experience that only we went through. Sometimes he was able to understand how I was feeling a little more than the guys and well as with everything else they were nothing but supportive of our friendship.

Trying not to let my mind slip too far into thoughts of that time with Antonio I quickly showered and went through my usual skin care regimen before hoping out drying off and covering myself up with one of Alec's hoodies and jogging bottoms. It was the start of summer and really starting to warm a little, each day it was becoming a little harder to wear these kind of things without sweating but I couldn't bring myself to wear any clothes that would show my skin and the hideous scars that covered my body. Even though I'd come so far that was still something that I battled with everyday and I couldn't see that changing anytime soon.

The guys had seen them occasionally but for the majority of the time I still tried to cover myself up as much as possible whenever I was around them, it wasn't because I thought it would bother them because they'd made it perfectly clear that they didn't. It was more because of my own self consciousness. They were a constant reminder of what Antonio did to me, a reminder that was still painful in more ways than one. Even though they'd all healed by now the scars were still fresh and itched from time to time meaning I couldn't forget they were there even if I tried.

When I came out of the bathroom Freddie was laid across my bed on his phone as relaxed as ever, he looked up and gave me a quick reassuring smile before returning to whatever he was doing on his phone. Lana had set everything up at the vanity and was waiting for me with a comforting smile. I took a deep breath and took the seat in front of the vanity, I felt so much calmer with Freddie here and I could see him in the mirror which helped. "I'm going to start with you're hair okay?" Lana said softly and started to look at strands of my hair. I nodded at her in the mirror and clenched my hands together. I could see Lana's horrified expression through the mirror as much as she tried to hide it. There was no doubt that my hair was in need of some serious TLC firstly I hadn't had it cut since I left Italy and well I'd lost a lot during my time with Antonio, it was no surprise she looked so concerned. Lana didn't say anything though she just smiled and got to work. She was so gentle with me, announcing any time she was going to do anything so I knew that it was coming, which was probably the boys doing. As uncomfortable as I was with being touched the whole process was a lot more bearable than I initially expected.

As Lana worked through my hair cutting and styling it, Alec came in handing me a bowl of Lorenzo's famous crispy chilli potatoes. I hadn't seen him yet but he was definitely here I just couldn't figure out why he hadn't come up to see me himself. "It's only a small snack seeing as you'll be eating later" Alec said as he sat himself down on the floor next to me and leant against the vanity table.