Guns and Roses

Twenty Eight ~ Rya

I wake up gasping. I was dreaming that I couldn't breathe, something was around my neck but I couldn't grab it.

The heavy breaths make pain shoot up my side and I groan. Its been two weeks but I'm only just starting to recover.

The bruises around my neck are finally starting to fade and my fingers have almost set. I can also see again out of my eye which had swollen shut. My ribs however, are still being a nuisance.

I ease myself out of bed and go into the bathroom. I stare at the mirror, at the girl staring back at me. Although the swelling has went down, my face is still purple around my right eye. The skin on my cheek has split in two places and a cut opened up on my chin from the brass knuckles.

My bottom lip is still split but healing nicely. It shouldn't scar like the one below my eye will. I run my tongue over my teeth, still paranoid that they'll fall out.

"Rya?" Someone shouts from my bedroom. "You in the bathroom?" It's Quinn.

I go back out to see him. "Yes?"

He points back over his shoulder. "I'm going out to meet Ellie. She gets Sundays off"

I nod "Will you be back later?"

He thinks for a second "I'll probably be back for dinner. I'll text you if anything changes"

"Do you know where Matthew is?" I ask him. I know that Matthew went out last night to deal but usually I've heard from him by now.

Quinn shakes his head "I haven't seen him"

He waves and then leaves, closing the door behind him. I sigh heavily. I've been under house arrest for the last two weeks from my uncles, Quinn's always out with Ellie and Matthew is never over.

I check my phone and the headline comes up straight away.

Mafia Boss Attempts to Take Back The Crown

I open the article and scroll down a little bit to where the story actually begins, past the same regurgitated story that they've put out every time something to do with my parents happens.

Two weeks ago, Viktor Guerreiro brutally murdered his wife, Bella Guerreiro, and is believed to have fled the country. The body of Mrs Guerreiro is still yet to be recovered but D.I. Freddie Sears has released a public statement confirming that it is most definitely a murder case.

Their daughter, Rya Guerreiro, was then kidnapped and left with life threatening injuries by the hands of her father. An expert has claimed that this may be a way that Mr Guerreiro is trying to prove himself to the mafia group that he left over a decade ago.

The body of Maddox Pritchard was found two weeks ago and his death is believed to be connected to the other are attacks as Pritchard had a history with taking bribes.

Miss Guerreiro has not been seen since the violent attack but her guidance teacher has commented that she is now safe and recovering well.

Really? They think Dad kidnapped me?

The door opens and I hear Alexander muttering on the phone. He hangs up and sits beside me. "Have you seen this?" I ask him, holding the phone out to him. "It's completely insane. Why would Dad torture me?"

Alexander takes the phone from me but doesn't look at it. "How are you feeling today, passerota?" He asks me, the concern in his voice clear. "Has the bruising started to go down on your ribs?"

I roll my eyes and lift up my t-shirt to show him the brushing covering my side. It's still a deep purple colour.

He traces his finger lightly and then smiles "It's starting to go green around the edges. That's a good sign. What about your arm? Are the stitches holding?"

I hold out my arm with its clean bandage. Last week when I woke up, there was blood everywhere and my arm was aching. I had burst my stitches in my sleep and I think it might have hurt more than when I actually got the cut.

He pulls me in against his chest and outs his chin on my head. "I love you Rya like you were my own" he says like he has done every day for the past thirteen years. He goes quiet "When Matthew told me you were gone..." He trails off "I've never been more scared in my life. And I've been in some properly terrifying situations. Like shit yourself scary" I laugh and hug him back.

"Your mum would be so proud of you" he mutters. "You remind me of her so much. When she first came here, she was all bruised and I thought her will had been broken like a lot of other girls that had been through what she had. But it hadn't. She fought with everything she had"

I nuzzle into his chest and welcome the warm feeling it gives me. It reminds me of when I was younger and Alexander used to read to me late at night when I got nightmares. Or when I fell and scraped my knees and he would kiss them better.

Alexander was the dad I didn't have.

"I love you Alexander" I tell him because I don't tell him enough. I don't ever tell him how much he means to me. How I don't think I could live in a world that he wasn't in.

He kisses my forehead and then keeps me held against his chest, careful to avoid crushing my broken ribs. "They're my parents" I say quietly "They wouldn't have hurt eachother. Not in the way they are saying they did. You know Dad, could he have done it?"

Alexander is silent again and then he pulls away from me. "Your father is a complicated man. When we were kids he would hit, kick and claw at Oliver at every chance he could. It went on for years, they couldn't be left alone together. Natalyla had just died and Viktor took it all out on Oliver. He nearly killed him a few times. But around Katie he was a completely different person, he was caring and kind. He stole her sweets and one night Elijah hit her and it was the first time I ever saw Viktor stand up to his father"

I stare at him "You don't think he did it?"

He frowns as he thinks about it. "I really don't know, kid. What I'm getting at is that your father is a violent man. Katie was the exception, not the rule. I just hoped that Bella was an exception too"