Alison groaned as she opened her eyes. Her whole body was aching. She stared at the ceiling above her head. This is not my room was the first thought in her mind. The pillows and covers had a familiar scent that for some unknown reason kept her calm. She knew that smell. "Alex!" she whispered and suddenly her eyes grew wide and she sat upright. She winced as her head pounded hard and kept her head between her hands. Images of the events of that night flowed in her mind. The dinner, her stepbrothers, the attack, Alex appeared in front of her, a bullet wound on Xander's arm.

With the last thought, her head shot up. "Xander!" she whispered panicked and throw the covers away, hissing in pain from the pain in her hand. She looked down and saw an IV attached to her hand. She quickly pulled the needle out and stood on her shaky legs, but as she took her first step, her legs gave away and she fell on the ground face first.

A door opened suddenly. "Alison!" she heard Alex's worried voice and the next second he knelt next to her and pulled her up. "Fuck! Your hand is bleeding."

Alison quickly fisted his white shirt in her hands and stared at his eyes. "Alex! Where are the others?" she asked frightened. "Xander was wounded. And where are Damien and Hunter?"

Alex put his hands on both sides of her face. "Alison, calm down. They are fine." he said and he wiped a tear which had fallen on her cheek with his thumb. "The attackers were all dead and your brother's men had just arrived when I took you."

Alison calmed down a bit and released her hold on his shirt. Her bloody hand had left a mark on his now wrinkled shirt. "I ruined your shirt." she whispered.

Alex kissed her forehead and gently scooped her in his arms and stood. She was shaking badly. Her teeth were chattering. He sat on the bed and put her between his legs and pulled the covers to her chin, making sure that her bloodied hand is out. He was happy that she didn't say anything and instead leaned on him. She was more overwhelmed with recent events to protest. He took a cotton ball from the nightstand and pressed it on her wound and kissed her temple.

"I'm still angry with you." she whispered.

"I know." said Alex and kissed her head. "And I'm so sorry about it. Nothing I say can explain what I did. But It was terribly wrong and you have every right to be angry. But Alison, I promise it won't happen again. I really like you. I swear. Please forgive me and give me another chance." he explained with haste.

Alison didn't say a word. She just leaned more onto him. He took it as a yes from her and happily buried his head in her neck. The feeling of having her safety in his arms was fantastic. He gently kissed her jaw. "I'm sorry, love. Please forgive me." he whispered.

Suddenly they heard heavy footsteps running toward the room. They looked up and Alex tightened his hold protectively, angry at whoever had dared to ruin his perfect moment.

A moment later three angry boys were standing in front of the door. Alison's eyes lit up as she saw Xander, Damien, and Hunter standing there, alive and fine. There was a bandage around Xander's bloody sleeve but other than that he looked fine.

"WHAT THE FUCK!" yelled Damien with a clenched jaw.

"Xander!" exclaimed Alison and wiggled out of Alex's arms and stood. The next moment she was in Xander's strong and surprisingly soothing arms. Alison hugged him back. "God, You are fine." she pulled away and looked at her other stepbrothers. "You are all fine."

Hunter came in and pulled her in another hug. "Alie!" he said. "We were so worried for you."

Just then, Mason and Rich came into the room as well alongside Juliet. Simon was behind them. "Sorry, my son should have not taken your sister here without your permission." she was explaining to Mason. "But please understand him. He was so worried for her."

"Yes, he fucking shouldn't." growled Damien and glared at Alex who had stood as well and was not happy a bit.

"And what?" Alex growled back. "Left her in your caring mighty hands? If I had not came in time, she was dead."

"Wait a second." said Alison and took a step away from everyone while looking at them. "You guys had guns, all of you."

Rich stepped forward and walked to her cautiously. "Alison, It's alright, dear." he said gently trying to reach her but she flinched away. The hurt she saw in his eyes, hurt her too but she couldn't control herself.

"They killed those people." said Alison, her eyes growing wide as the reality hit her hard.

"Alison!" Mason's firm and deep voice boomed into the room and Alison looked at him. "Let's go home. Your mother is worried sick, so is father. We can talk there."

Alison nodded and took a step forward. "She won't go anywhere." grunted Alex and stepped forward only to be pushed back by Xander.

"And who the fuck might you be to her?" asked Xander through gritted teeth.

"I'm her fucking boyfriend." Alex snapped back.

Everyone turned to Alison sharply who was shocked herself. "Is this true, Alison?" asked Mason and clenched his fists.

Alison gulped and looked at Alex. His eyes were holding a mix of hope and plea in them. She didn't know what, but something stirred in her heart and made her make her decision. She decided to trust his promise and forgive him. He had done as she had asked him, trying his best to make things right between him and her brothers. She was crazily going to give him another chance.

"Yes, he is." she said firmly but blushed as she looked back at Mason's sharp eyes. "He is my boyfriend."

Alex smiled happily. He wanted to do a happy dance. It was like someone lifted his soul. He looked back at the King brothers triumphantly, challenging them.

"Like the hell you will." snapped Hunter ready to wipe that grin from Alex's face, but Mason's voice stopped him.

"That's enough, Hunter." he said sternly and then glanced at Alison. "That is something we should talk about at home as well." he said and then looked at Juliet. "Thank you for taking care of my sister Mrs. West."

Alison's eyes snapped toward the woman at the mention of her name, now understanding that she was Alex's mother. Suddenly she became self-conscious. Alex's mother was a beautiful woman. Alison didn't want her first encounter with Alex's mother to be like that. Though, Juliet smiled at her warmly when she saw her staring.

"Come on, Alie." said Rich and put a hand on Alison's shoulder.

Alison nodded but stopped in front of Alex and took a few steps and stood in front of him. Alex quickly snaked an arm around her waist and pulled her closer. "Thank you for accepting." he whispered.

"I have not forgiven you completely yet. And we should talk about this whole girlfriend-boyfriend thing." she whispered.

Alex kissed her forehead, although his whole self was itching to kiss her lips deeply, but he kept himself, feeling her brother's deathly glares. "I know. We will talk tomorrow."

Alison nodded and walked toward Rich who gently guided her towards the door. Mason had already left. "Come on, boys." said Rich to his three other brothers who were still glaring at Alex with clenched jaws. With one last glare, they walked out of the room.

Juliet walked into the room and stood beside her son. She sighed relieved. "That went well." she said. "Your father will be pissed when he hears about it after he comes back from the warehouse."

Simon leaned on the wall and smirked at his friend. "Well, someone is too happy to care about it." he teased.

Juliet giggled as well and nudged Alex. "You are grinning like a fool." she said and then stood on her tip-toes and kissed his cheek. "I'm proud of you."

Simon and Juliet both left then. Alex threw himself on his bed like a starfish and stared at the ceiling. There was a party going on in his head. His grin grew wider as he remembered that Alison had accepted to be his girlfriend. Finally, she was his.

*************************

Alison had fallen asleep in Hunter's arms, who had refused to let go of her since they had sat in the car. She was exhausted to the core. She only felt being lifted in someone's arms. She only opened her eyes for a brief second only to see Mason's cold and hard face who was walking upstairs with her in his arms. The next thing she felt was her soft bed and covers being pulled on top of her and her mother's gentle hand caressing her hair.

She slowly opened her eyes and saw her mother staring down at her lovingly. "Hello, sweetheart." she said and kissed her forehead.

Alison slowly sat up with her mother's help. "How are you?" asked Eva worriedly.

"Good, but I need explanation," said Alison now sobered up.

The door opened and Three older Kings walked in. Albert, Mason, and Rich walked in and closed the door behind them. Albert's eyes softened at Alison's sight sitting there. He walked and stood at the foot of her bed. "It's good to see you are fine, Alison." he said.

Alison nodded. "But I need to know what's going on." she said firmly.

Albert nodded and sat on her bed. Mason sat on her desk's chair and Rich on her piano stool, looking at her guiltily.

"Alison, there is something I wanted to tell you this morning." began Albert. "I have already talked to your mother. I just wish you could learn that the other way. I promise those who caused the event of tonight, are going to pay with their lives." he said and clenched his fists.

"Who were those who attacked us?" asked Alison. "And more importantly, why the boys have guns with them? Who are you guys?"

"Alison, we are a Mafia." said Mason. His gray-blue eyes were fixed on her. "We are the biggest and strongest mafia family in America and those who attacked you tonight were our enemy. Dad is the Capo or Don of America's mafia. I'm his right hand and heir and Rich is my right hand."

Alison just stared at Mason as he talked. She then looked at her mother. "I found out this morning." said Eva knowing what was going on in her daughter's mind. "And yes. I will stay with them because I love them all." She then walked toward Alison and grabbed her hand and ran a hand on her hair. "But I love you too, Alison. More than you can even imagine. That's why I want you to choose and not force you to stay. You are free to decide where you want to stay after you turned 18."

Alison stared at her mother, remembering what she had done herself just a few hours ago. She had accepted to be Alex's girlfriend although she knew he was dangerous. How could she scold her mother for standing by the side of the man she had come to love.

"Are we in danger?" asked Alison while looking at the three men in the room.

"I'm not going to lie." said Albert. "Yes. One of our old enemies has returned and we are in something like a war. That is why we are asking you and your mother to be more careful. You can't go out unguarded. We are also bringing your sister here. She will be here in two days."

"Bella's coming back?" Asked Alison shocked and looked at her mother.

Eva smiled. "Yes!" she said excitedly. "it was hard to convince her, but she accepted eventually."

"Alison!" called Rich and Alison looked at him. "We want you to know that we do our best to take care of you. Just bear with this situation a bit more until we take care of it."

"Alex!" she said and the three men looked at her alert. She looked up at them. "Is he part of the mafia?"

"No! But he is the heir of the biggest gang in the city and now they are our ally." explained Mason. "And now that you mentioned him, is he really your boyfriend?"

"Yes he is." answered Alison, having this urge to defend Alex.

"He is a dangerous boy, Alison." said Albert.

"So are you." challenged Alison staring back at him.

Albert stared back at her. He studied her for a moment before nodding. "He has proved to be smart and hardworking and he seems to really care for you. We owe him your life and our other three boys." he said and then stood. "I don't want to be hard on you. I'm going to accept him as your boyfriend."

Alison nodded. "I'm sorry, but I'm tired." she said. "And I need to think."

"Of course, dear." said her mother and kissed her cheek. "Rest as much as you can. You had a tough night. good night."

A minute later Alison was alone. Her mind was exploding from too much thought. She had been attacked, found out that her new family was a mafia family and her new boyfriend was a gang leader's son. There was only one thought in her exhausted mind. One thought that had changed her life forever:

My mother married a Capo.