Alina

Antonio

I smile as I watch my daughter march up to her cousins with the biggest smile. She's a whopping 3'3 ball of pure sunshine.

"We need to talk." My father says. I nod and we, along with the rest of the adults, and Alessandro, head toward my office and close the door.

"I want an explanation, now." My mother orders.

"I don't know how it happened Ma. I really don't. We have the best security system in place around her room to alert us if anything happens. Even if a pigeon flew by I'd know."

"Well, it's utter crap. My granddaughter was almost kidnapped, Antonio."

"I know Ma. But it happened even though I really wish it didn't. We're lucky she was able to defend herself and scream for us. She's a strong girl."

"No shit. A 4-year-old Matteo would've passed out." Francesco says and Mariana slaps his arm.

"I want the whole story Antonio, from the very beginning. I know you and you wouldn't just adopt a kid out of the blue. There's more." My father says. I look at Bianca and she nods.

"You might want to sit down for this," Bianca advises and we move to the lounge in the corner.

I begin,
"We discovered the location of the Russian estate and planned a raid. We knew we had a rat and revealed the wrong information to him in hopes that the Ivanov brothers would fall for it and we'd get them. They saw through it and escaped before we got there. I stayed at the estate after we took over while the boys chased 3 vans down a hidden road through a forest. The vans turned out to be decoys. Roman blew up 2 with his drones while he shot the third's wheels so it'd crash. The car flipped while rolling into the trees. Roman wounded the driver and the boys went to find him for any information. They couldn't find him, but they found Alina."

"What do you mean, found Alina?" My mom asks.

I look at Bianca and she hesitantly takes out her phone and hands it to her. She gasps and tears form in their eyes. The picture is of Alina unconscious in the snow. There's blood and bruises covering her. It's clear she's frostbitten and her lips are blue and she's very pale. Her cheeks and nose are too red and overall it looks would've died from hypothermia if we hadn't gotten there in time.
The phone is passed around the room and they are all rendered speechless.

"Alessandro found her in the search and brought her back to the jet where I was waiting. Her pulse was weak and we did our best with what we had available. It became more steady as she warmed up and it was normal by the time she came home." I say.

"All she had on was an oversized tee shirt. I removed it for a bath and everything under it was covered in wounds and bruises. It looked as if she was brutally beaten." She clears her throat, choking on incoming tears. "She was. She was brutally beaten. Someone hurt my baby." Bianca says with her voice breaking.

"When she woke up, she was terrified at first, of me especially. But she warmed up to us pretty quickly as it seemed she was unfamiliar with the concept of 'old' people. The boys though, made her pass out from fear. All I said was 'brothers' and she was out.

Allie soon told us that she didn't remember much from her old home. She's had a few flashes but that was it. All we know is that there were two boys who claimed to be her brothers, a dark and cold room that's probably a basement, tattoos, one specifically being something like a rose, an old man with books that we believe is a tutor, and a man named Igor." I explain.

"Igor as in, our Russian rat Igor?" My brother asks.

"I don't know. Alessandro hasn't been able to get in contact with him since the raid. But I don't think she was involved with the Russians."

"I agree. She wouldn't be alive if she was. She's far too young to have been taken into their assassin program and the Ivanovs don't have a girl in the family." My father says.

"Yeah, and Igor would've told us if there was a child living on the estate." My brother adds.

"So you think she came from an abusive household?" Mariana asks and I nod.

"Why aren't those assholes in my warehouse half dead then?" My father says with his fists clenched.

"That's the thing, it's like she doesn't even exist. There are no records of her at all. Nothing about her is even in the system. We checked Russia as well and still nothing." I explain.

"At least you won't have to fight over custody if they didn't even register her. They can't do anything, and they'd be sent to prison if they did come forward to claim her." My father says.

"She could've been born in her home and never registered."

"That's what we think Emilia," Bianca says. "But this is where we're stuck. Not only did she have a tutor, but she also has all her shots and has been kept in perfect health besides the bruising. It also seems as if her wounds were treated before we found her; it's as if she was patched up then hurt again. It's as if she was cared for in a way which is crazy to us."

"From the positioning of her bruises and scars, it seems her abuser avoided her head and neck. From her lack of scars and the shapes of the ones she does have, it also looks like they avoided weapons as well. It's as if they didn't want to actually hurt her in a way."

"Are you crazy Antonio? Look at your daughter. She's half dead in that photo." My mother says.

"I held her body in my arms Ma, trust me, I know very well what she was like. We waited almost 2 days for her to wake up. But here's the thing, she survived. How could a toddler survive in a place like she was without help? It's odd. Alina did not come from a normal household with normal abusers. If she did she would've been dead a long time ago." They all sigh and shake their heads.

My mother walks up to me and pulls me into a hug. "Thank you for saving her and giving her a home."

"When was her last flashback?" Francesco asks.

"A week or so ago. It's been pretty quiet. She's begun to forget it already which is good." Bianca says.

"Let's hope it remains that way." My dad replies and we nod.

"Now wh-"

"NO! NO! LET ME GO! PLEASE! I'LL BE GOOD! I'LL BE GOOD! DON'T HURT ME PLEASE!" Allie.