Family First | *Rewrites in Progress*

Trust Is Everything

Quinn's POV

Rod had taken Gabby home a few hours ago, after she had started shaking. The memories of her parents had resurfaced from the traumatic events of the evening, but before she had left, Hazel had hugged her tight, promising to call her in the morning.

Now I was just pacing in Anastasia's bedroom. 

It was oddly calming, smelling of fresh roses, bringing a sense of nostalgia to my mind. My mother's favourite flower had been a red rose, and she always told me that one day, I'd find my rose too.

I stopped believing that after she died.

But now I was starting to believe her again.

I was broken from my train of thoughts when someone knocked on Anastasia's door. "Come in!" I called out, and Hazel stepped in, her eyes red from crying. She sat down on one of the beanbags and patted the one next to her, smiling softly as I sat down. 

"You know, Anastasia had never had a boy up here apart from our brothers. Dad's not controlling per say, but being in the mafia has always been too dangerous to have other friends, so boyfriends were out of the picture for her," she remarked, picking at a stitch in the beanbag.

She looked over to me, and snuggled into the beanbag, trying to stay comfortable without hitting her head. I felt sorry for the kid, knowing what the gnawing sense in her heart was like from personal experience. From what I knew, Thomas had kept her from the mafia because he did not wish for her to suffer.

Yet still, she suffered.

Hazel touched my arm timidly, and unclenched my fist, which I didn't realise I had clenched. She grabbed a stuffed bear from under Anastasia's bed, and handed it to me. It smelt of roses. The foot of it had words that said 'For my dear Anastasia, a bear to protect you through the darkness of the night'.

"This is Mr Tulip. Anastasia doesn't know I know about him, so please don't tell her I showed you him." Hazel laughed as I took a picture of the bear, before sniffling a little.

"Why did you show me her bear?" The gesture was confusing, and Hazel took the bear from me, hugging it to her chest with her eyes shut tightly.

"Because I trust you, and I know you're going to help us find my sister. And my brothers are going to give you hell as soon as you do because of you and my sister making google eyes at each other, so consider me your new protector." She stuck her chest out and held her head up high, causing me to bend over, laughing in a way a I hadn't done in years. She put her arm out and gave me a side hug, which I returned.

The door opened yet again, to reveal Grayson and Nathan.

"Hey Haz- OH MY GOD NO!" Grayson yelled out picking up Hazel and placing her behind him. "Naughty child," he scolded her, and she just smiled, making the corners of his mouth go up in a grin, that seemed more forced than natural. 

"You," he pointed a finger at me. "I know when Ana comes back you're gonna be all over her, so leave my other sister alone. It's bad enough having one sister who might not come back single." Nathan crossed his arms, and butted Grayson out of the way.

"What my brother means is when we get her back, if you lay a finger on my sister and hurt her we are all going to kill you." He smirked and left the room with Grayson and Hazel, the last waving to me and mouthing a 'sorry'.

All of them used the word 'when'. They were all certain their sister would come home, holding onto their conjoined hope.

A yell from downstairs made me run as fast as my legs could carry me to where the whole family was gathered by a computer. Thomas' hands were shaking as he put a usb inside.

Hazel walked to me and grabbed my forearm.

"They said it was just lying on the doorstep, no note or indication of who placed it there. Jacob's checking the security cameras now," she whispered to me, and I gave a slight nod.

The only who wasn't here was Roman, but I assumed he was passed out somewhere. Alexander was comforting Tina, and having a quiet conversation with Charlie, who looked the most shaken I'd ever seen him.

A video started playing on the laptop and the room fell silent. A light turned on revealing a frightened Anastasia, a man with a mask twirling a knife in his hands. He plunged it into her thigh, and Hazel turned into my body, squeezing her eyes shut as Anastasia's screams filled up the silence of the room.

No one made a sound as silent tears flowed through all of family's eyes. The masked man plunged it into her shoulder, and she screamed again begging him to stop. She swore out a colourful string of swear words, and my heart fluttered with pride. She was still fighting through the pain.

A man's voice spoke out from behind her.

"See this Thomas?" Anastasia's face twisted in pain.

"Your daughter is paying for your crimes against Vince's mafia, for siding with the enemy. And she will continue to pay until you right your wrongs." He wrapped a dirty hand around her throated she started to struggle as oxygen failed to reach her lungs.

With that she passed out and the video stopped. Nathan immediately closed the laptop.

No one was able to speak after that.

----

Grayson's POV

I noticed Hazel turning into Quinn but had no will to pull her away from him because I knew she trusted him, and he was calm around her.

I had just watched my little sister being tortured. Her dress was bloody, and she wore a bandages around her thigh. Her eyes secretly pleaded for help, and even then she was swearing like she never had before.

She wore Nanna Valerie's pendant, its sapphire gleaming against the bright light illuminating her.

Wait.

The pendant.

"Dad?" I asked quietly. He lifted his head up, and I think he expected me to ask an entirely different question. One along the lines of 'where do we go from here'. We would discuss our mafia's neutrality later.

"Didn't we put that tracker in Anastasia's pendant?" 

Everyone in the room snapped their head to me, and Jacob got out his phone. My dad grabbed ahold of my shoulders and shook me. "Forget what I've always said you are smart!" he cried, his accent thick and making the words sound almost inaudible.

Jacob pulled up the tacker inside the pendant and it flashed at a location an hour away. "I've got her dad, I've got her!"

Quinn ran to the door, and we all followed, with Jacob texting us all the location. Hazel, Quinn and Nathan got into his car, with Charlie and Alexander and I taking Tabitha. Jacob tried to protest but our mother sent him a death glare and shoved his ass into dad's car.

Charlie called backup, and no doubt everyone else was doing the same.

We were going to get my little sister back, and kill the bastard who dared touch her.