Lost Then Found

Chapter Three

Alex was fighting hard against the memories of her visit to the Grecos that threatened to overpower her. She didn't want to start sobbing uncontrollably in front of Laura. She continued to fight the surge of painful emotions, mentally building a barrier to keep them back. They felt like wild animals in a cage, scratching and banging on the bars in an attempt to get out.

Alex swallowed hard, closing her eyes for a brief moment. It helped her reel her emotions back, but just barely.

"Gabe called me in a panic last night. He said the Grecos captured you and were holding you at the Greco Estate..." Laura sniffled and tried in vain to wipe the tears from her eyes with the back of her sleeve. "I called in a good amount of soldiers to plant themselves right outside their gates and demand they turn you over or we'd launch a full out assault on their estate." She had an ironic smile on her face then. "My dad is gonna kill me when he finds out. The Grecos will retaliate, of course, and who knows what that means, especially with how bold they've been acting these days." She looked exhausted. "I risked the lives of at least fifteen Costa soldiers, not to mention myself." An ironic smile appeared on her lips. "Dad is gonna flip."

Alex's eyes widened at the revelation of what Laura had done to save her. Laura had called in the Costa soldiers, packed them into cars, and marched them straight to the Grecos front gates. Alex couldn't believe that Laura had even gone with them. She could've gotten captured herself!

Alex hadn't known Laura was so brave.

"That's..." Alex's heart, the one she couldn't even feel just moments ago, filled with warmth. "That's amazing of you, Laura," she said, sounding breathless. "Thank you so much for saving me."

Much to Alex's horror, this only seemed to make Laura cry harder. Alex never knew what to do around crying girls since she herself had been raised to pretend an emotion such as sadness didn't exist, lest it be interpreted as weakness.

Alex ran a thumb under Laura's eye, wiping away the tears. "Hey..." she said, meeting Laura's sad gaze. "Why are you crying? I'm okay, right?"

Okay?

Alex was far from okay. She had never felt lower, except maybe the day Val had died. This was definitely a close second place for worst day ever. It could only possibly get worse, with Laura having saved her. She didn't blame Gabe for calling Laura, but she also didn't want to tell Laura anything, especially about Val. Now she felt almost obligated to. After all, she likely owed her life to this woman. Who knew how far Salvatore would've gone, how far Val would've let him, if Laura hadn't showed up with her Costa goons in tow?

"Okay?" Laura repeated, incredulous. "Alex they beat the hell out of you." Laura reached forward, her eyes fixated on Alex's split lip. She ran her finger over it, pulling back when Alex winced.

"Sorry," Laura whispered, looking apologetic.

"Don't be," Alex said, her eyes locking with Laura's.

Laura's cheeks flushed and she had to look away for a brief moment. It seemed as though she had never gotten used to the intensity of Alex's blue directly on her. "Tell me what happened, Alex. How did you get involved with the Grecos? Why did they do this to you?" More tears fell. "God Alex," her voice was raw with emotion, her eyes full of so much pain. Her voice was a whisper as she asked, "Did I do this? Did they find out that we're friends and... is that why they hurt you?"

Alex reached forward and pulled Laura's face to hers, bringing the younger woman into a deep kiss. Laura tensed at first, clearly surprised by the kiss, that it was Alex that had initiated it. Not wanting to question her good fortune, she relaxed into it, her arms lifting to wrap around Alex's neck.