Cali ran up the stairs crying. She felt like the world's biggest fool. The two men whom she had love and adored, more than anything in this world, were not who she though they were. Her guardian angel, and the gargoyle who had finally come to rescue her. They both turned out to be monster, beasts, demons. From this moment on, she decided that she would no longer wait to be rescued. She was on her own, and she was the only one who could rescue herself.

"Cali wait!" Rosy cried as she was close behind her.

"I'm sorry, Rosy!" Cali cried. "I consider you a friend, and I love you like a sister! But you are actually Gabriel's sister, and I'm done with him! I won't let my child, or my future children be apart of this world! I'm sorry, but there is nothing you can say or do that will make me go back to him!"

"Listen to me." Rosy whispered as she go in front of her. She then looked at Cali with strong determination in eyes. "I told my brother you were coming home with me for a few days. That you needed to cool off, and be apart from him until for a few days."

"Rosy!" Cali cried in frustration.

"Wait." Rosalina whispered, as she interrupted Cali's protest. "I know you have no intention of returning to my brother. I don't blame you, Gabe Edwards is dead. All that is left is the monster that he has become. I was hoping that you could be the one to save him, but I think he is beyond resurrecting. I have some money saved, that Gabe doesn't even know about. I also have an escape plan, we are leaving Cicely tonight."

Cali was stunned by what Rosy had just told her. "How long have you been planning this?" She asked.

"Two years ago." Rosy informed her. "I didn't like the man the Gabe had become. So I decided to have a back up plan in case he couldn't be saved. I honestly thought that you had done it. But I know now, it's too late for him. Neither one of us wants to be part of the Mafia empire. We both deserve better, your daughter deserves better. So we're leaving my family's dark kingdom behind."

"Where will we go?" Cali asked. "What will we do? You know that Gabriel will come looking for us."

"Well, we'll hide in the US." Rosy explained. "But not New York, that would be the first place that Gabe will look. We'll go to a decent size town in the Midwest. I have enough money to forge documents, and start a new life. We'll pretend to be a lesbian couple. And tell everyone that your unborn child is our daughter through artificial insemination. Everyone will just assume the biological father was a just sperm donor."

"Um Rosy." Cali began. "I care a lot about you, but—"

"No wait!" Rosy interrupted. "Don't get me wrong, I have no problem lesbians, but I am definitely not one. That'll just be our cover."

"But what if we decide we eventually want to meet someone?" Cali asked. "Won't that be difficult if potential suitors assume we're a lesbian couple?"

"Oh please." Rosy replied, as she rolled her eyes, folded her arms. "We're talking about men. With their egos, it won't take much to convince them that their viral prowess got us to switch teams."

Cali laughed, as she still felt the tears in her eyes. "I guess you'r right. But how are we going to get away?"

"Leave that to me." Rosy replied with a sly smile. She then took out her smartphone, and dialed. "Michael! It's Rosalina. I'm going out of town for a few days, I just wanted to let you know. I didn't want you to worry when I didn't come home. Don't worry, Gabriel knows. In fact, he's providing a security detail for me. So you don't have to worry about hat either....Your welcome."

"How long do we have until Gabriel figures out what's going on?" Cali asked.

"Not long." Rosy replied, as she dropped the phone on the ground. To Cali's surprise, Rosy smashed the phone with her foot. "Pity, that was an expensive phone. But we can't risk either Gabriel, or Anton being able to track us. We have to leave now. I have a feeling that everyone is going to be looking for us soon. At least their is no one that we have to say goodbye to."

"True, there is no one for us to say goodbye to." Cali replied as she could feel the tears welling up in her eyes. Her heart was breaking. "But I do have one last goodbye."

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++

As soon as Anton got off the phone with Gabriel, he called Victor right away.

"Anton!" Victor stated as he answered the phone. "What can I do for you?"

"It seems that Miss Russo, and Miss Esposito have run away again." Anton sighed. "You remember what happened the last time they ran away?"

"How could I forget." Victor growled. "I still suffer from pain now and then, after Gabriel taught me a lesson."

"Yes I know." Anton replied. "But Mr. Esposito has demanded that they be found. And so we shall find them, unharmed of course. Surely neither one of us want to incur his wrath."

"Where should we begin to look?" Victor asked. "Have you tracked Miss Esposito's phone."

"I tried." Anton told him. "But the signal stopped transmitting almost an hour ago. My guess is that Miss Esposito destroyed her phone."

"Then how the hell are we going to find them?" Victor sighed.

"Don't worry." Anton replied, feeling confident. "I have a feeling I know exactly where they are heading."

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

"We shouldn't be here!" Exclaimed Rosy, as she seemed to have a look of panic on her face. "This may be one of the first places they look."

"Or the last." Cali replied. "It may be too obvious. Besides, we're not staying long. But I have to say goodbye to him. We have grown close over the last couple of months. He's the only thing I am going to miss."

Cali had Rosy drive up to the stables. She could feel her own tears welling up in her eyes, as she saw Onyx trotting around. She named his that for his beautiful black coat. As soon as she got out of the vehicle, he must of noticed her right away. He swiftly came trotting over to her. She took out a sugar cube, and let the horse eat it out of her hand. Cali then reached out, and began to gently stroke his snout.

"I'm going to miss you." She cried. "If I could, I would take you with us. But that's impossible. If Gabriel loves me the way I know he does, I know he'll take care of you. Maybe he will even find a sanctuary for you."

As she continued to stroke the animal, it was almost as if she could see a sadness in his eyes. It was as if he know she was saying goodbye.

"Cali!" Rosy cried, as she got out of the car, and made her way over to them. "I don't mean to be cold. But we really do have to go."

"I know." Cali solemnly replied. "It's just so hard. Take care, Onyx." With that, she placed a kiss upon the horse's snout. She, and Rosy, then turned to head back towards the car.

"I knew I'd find you here." A voice exclaimed. Cali became terrified, as she saw Anton standing right in front of them. Victor was standing right behind them, as well as two other men.

"Oh shit!" Cried Rosy.

"My, my." Anton proclaimed in a smug tone. "Such language from the Mafia princess. You know, poor Mr. Esposito is beside himself with worry. He ordered me to come find you two."

"Forget it!" Cali exclaimed. "I'm not going back to him!"

"Like you have a choice." Anton chuckled. "But don't worry, I have no intention of returning you to Gabriel. I have other plans for the two of you."

"Have you lost your mind Anton?" Rosy cried. "You're my brother's lackey! You do everything he orders you do! You're his little chimpanzee that jumps through fire hoops whenever he commands you to!"

Anton began to chuckle, but his face soon hardened. "You are such a spoiled little brat, princess! I've been waiting a long time to do this!" With that he back handed Rosy, as she soon fell to the ground.

"Rosy!" Cali cried. She then got down, on the ground, to check on her. However, she was out cold. Anton had apparently hit her hard enough to knock her unconscious.

"Why did you do that?" Victor growled in anger. "I said I didn't want any damage done to her pretty little body, especially her face!"

"Calm down, Mr. Sabino." Anton replied. "Just put ice on it as soon as possible. The worst it'll be is a bruise, or she'll have some sweeping. It'll heal over time. Besides, that spoiled little bitch had it coming."

"How could you?" Cali cried. "I won't let you hurt her!" Just then, it dawned on her what he had just called Victor. "Wait a minute, did you just call him Mr. Sabino?"

"Bingo!" Anton replied.

"But you pledged yourself to the Esposito family!" Cali cried. "Why would you break that pledge?"

"In actually, I haven't broken my pledge." Anton replied with very little facial expression. "I never pledged my loyalty to Gabriel, I pledged it to the head of the Esposito family. Mr. Sabino here has been working with me for the past year, and a half. Once I take control, we are going to form a new alliance—a powerful one."

"And how exactly are you planning on claiming the thrown of the Esposito empire?" Cali asked.

"Simple." Anton replied. "Gabriel isn't going to have much of a choice. I now have in possession the three people that mean the most to him. His sister, his songbird, and his unborn daughter. I'm sure once I tell him about her, he will be most cooperative. And now my dear, it is time for us to go. I must inform Gabriel that I have found you, as well as what I want form him."

He then bent down, and grabbed her upper arm. "Get your ape hands off of me!" She cried as she jerk herself away from his grip. "I will not let you use my daughter!"

Onyx must have noticed that Anton was scaring her. The horse whinnied, and angrily kicked the fence with his hind legs. Unfortunately for Anton, he had been standing too close to the fence. The horse had cause him to fall face first towards the ground. Anton groaned as he forced himself up.

"Stupid animal!" One of the guards yelled. To Cali's horror, the guard pulled out a gun, and aimed it at Onyx. She reached out to him, but she knew she couldn't be fast enough to save him. Her shut immediately as she heard the gun fire.

She was afraid to open them, as she knew that bastard had just killed her beloved horse. But then, all of a sudden, Onyx began to whinny. As Cali opened her eyes, she saw a dead guard laying on the ground instead. She turned her head, and saw Anton hold the smoking gun that had been aimed at the guard.

"Stupid idiot!" Anton exclaimed. "That horse is a magnificent animal, and one of the many assets on this estate! I didn't give anyone permission to destroy him. He is part of the Esposito empire! One of the symbols of this empire's greatness! I don't want any of it destroyed, do you all understand?"

"Of course sir." The remaining guard replied, as he had a look of fear in his eyes.

"Good!" Anton proclaimed. "Because the Esposito empire, and everything within it will soon belong to me!"

To Cali's complete disgust, Anton looked into her eyes as he gave her a seductive smile. "All of it!"