Alison jumped out of the taxi before it even fully stopped. Surprisingly the driver managed to get her to Ed's house in ten minutes. She saw Logan and Ashley jumping out of Logan's pickup truck. The three nodded and rushed to the house and stopped at the front door.

"It's so quiet." said Ashley worriedly. She was pale.

"eerily quiet." said Alison.

Logan didn't waste more time. He went to the door and knocked fiercely. When he didn't get a response he turned the doorknob and found it locked. He quickly took out his pocket knife and picked the lock easily and opened the door. "Ed?" he asked as he walked inside.

"Logan, be careful." said Ashley worriedly. Alison walked into the house followed by Ashley and heard her gasp. Her heart sank when she stepped in. The house was a mess. Everything was broken or thrown aside.

"Ed!" yelled Logan and rushed behind a couch when he saw Ed sitting on the ground and leaning on the wall. Alison and Ashley ran there.

"Edie!" said Ashley and her voice cracked when she saw his bloody face. His nose was bleeding and the gash above his eye was reopened. His eyes were closed. Logan knelt beside him and gently touched his shoulder. "Hey, man!" he said and Ed winced even with Logan's soft touch.

Alison and Ashley knelt beside him as well as he opened his eyes and looked at them. "What's wrong, Ed?" asked Alison quickly. "Are you in pain?"

"I killed him." chocked ed under his breath. He raised his arm and pointed somewhere behind them. His face scrunched in pain with only that small action.

The three turned and only then did they see the body of Ed's father on the ground. His head was near the stairs. There was a bat on the ground next to him. Logan stood and went to him and put a hand on his neck. "The bastard is still alive. Don't be worried." he seethed as he stood again and walked back.

Alison turned to Ed again and inspected him. "Ed! Where do you feel pain the most?" she asked concerned.

"Can't breath!" said Ed. "He hit me with a bat."

"The fucker must have broken his ribs." growled Logan.

"We should call the police." said Ashley and brought her phone out. "He needs medical care."

Logan quickly snatched the phone out of her hand. "Are you crazy?" he said. "His father is barely breathing. Even if he won't get accused of attempted murder, they can still send him to jail."

"So what we should do?" asked Ashley as tears ran down her face. "He is in pain."

"We need to take him somewhere that they don't call the cops or social services." said Logan and looked at Alison for help.

An idea suddenly popped into her mind and she quickly fished her phone out. "Rich mentioned having a private clinic once." she said as she dialed Rich's number. Her stepbrothers were the only ones she could trust to help her in that situation. They were Mafia for God's sake.

"Alison." greeted Rich happily once he picked the line. "How are..."

Alison quickly cut him off. "Rich, I need your help." she erupted worridly once she heard him. "My friend. He is badly hurt and we can't take him to the hospital. Do you have a private clinic? Can we bring him there?"

"Alison, calm down and tell me where you are." asked Rich alert.

"I'm in Ed's house." she explained in haste. "He has gone into a fight with his father and his father has beaten him in the chest with a bat. he can't breathe properly. His father has fallen next to the stairs unconscious. We are afraid that he dies and the police arrests Ed. What should I do? Please help us."

"Alison, It's Mason." Alison heard Mason's firm and deep voice and suddenly she felt oddly protected. "We have your location. I sent my men there. They will take care of the father and the situation. Now tell us about your friend. How is he? Can you move him?"

Alison looked at Ed's sweaty face. Ashley has grabbed his hand and was wiping the sweat from his face. Logan looked like he needed something to punch. He was angry. "He has a bleeding nose and an old gash reopened on his face." said Alison while scrutinizing Ed. "But he can't breath and winces when we want to move him."

"We?" asked Mason, relieved that she was not alone.

"Yes." answered Alison. "I'm with my other two friends."

"Alison!" said Rich once again. His phone was on speaker for sure. "I want you to put your ear on his chest and listen for any odd wheezing sound."

Alison gently put her head on Ed's chest and listened carefully. Once she didn't hear anything odd she raised her head and put the phone back to her ear.

"Nothing." she said. "Only his heart beating out of rhythm."

"That's good." answered Rich. "It means that we have no punctured lung and we should keep it that way. You have a car?"

"Yes, we have." answered Alison.

"Okay. Listen carefully." said Rich and Alison put her phone on speaker as well. "I want you to grab bandages or cloth and wrap it gently but firmly around his chest area and then cautiously put him in the car. Make sure you don't put any pressure on his chest. I will send you an address. Bring him here."

"Okay. Thank you so much." said Alison and cut the call, as Ashley rushed to find something.

"What about his father?" asked Logan. "We can't leave him here."

"Mason said he will take of him and the house." said Alison and stood. "we should lay him down on the back of the truck. Go and grab some blankets while Ashley and I wrap him chest."

Logan nodded and rushed to Ed's room. "I'm sorry." said Ed hardly. "I caused trouble again."

"Shhhhh," Hushed Alison and caressed his face. "It's going to be fine. We are here."

Five minutes later, they had bandaged Ed's chest and the truck was ready and parked in the driveway. Logan had made a field stretcher with two pipes he had found in the garage and a blanket. They carefully put Ed on it, making sure to not hurt him more, and quickly took him to the car and placed him in the back of it where Logan had put a few blankets. Ashley went up with him and covered him while Alison and Logan rushed to the driver and passenger seats and soon they swerved into the road.

Thankfully, the neighborhood was bad enough that no one stopped them or spare them a glance as they left in rush and drove to an address that Rich had sent for Alison.

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

Alex was walking in the corridors of the school angrily with Simon behind him. He was pissed. Everyone was opening the way for him, fearing to face his wrath. He spotted those he was looking for and headed toward them. The King brothers.

"Where the fuck is Alison?" he asked angrily when he reached them.

"I don't remember we should have reported you from our sister's whereabouts." snapped Hunter harshly.

"Shut your smart mouth." growled Alex. "I can't find her anywhere in the school. Where is she?"

"Get the message, dickhead." scoffed Xander. "Maybe she doesn't want to see your shitty face."

"What do you mean you can't find her?" asked Damien alert. "She should be with her friends. Her bodyguard has dropped her at school and watched her get in."

"She is not with her friends." answered Alex frustrated and ran a hand through his hair. "I just talked with them. They said she has texted them to meet her in the library but she was not there. I thought she is at home. She isn't answering her phone again."

Damien quickly pulled out his phone and called Alison. Sure she didn't answer him. He quickly called Mason. "Mason, Alison is not at school." he said quickly once Mason picked up.

"I know," answered Mason. "She is coming to the warehouse."

"WHAT??" yelled Damien shocked and everyone looked at him with worry.

Alex was going crazy. "Where the hell is she?" he snarled as he took a step towards Damien but Damien raised a hand and stopped him.

"Why is she coming there?" asked Damien.

"Calm down. She is fine." said Mason. "One of her friends has gotten injured and they couldn't take him to a hospital. They are bringing him here."

"We are coming there." said Damien and cut the call. He then looked at the others. "She is going to the warehouse. One of her friends has gotten into a situation and they are taking him there."

Alex didn't waste any time rushing out of the school followed by Simon and King brothers. He got into the car and brought the engine to life and quickly drove to the King warehouse where he was going regularly in the past few days. He tightened his hold on the steering wheel to the point where his knuckles turned white. That morning he had woken up with the thought of him going to finally see her at school as her boyfriend and ask her out on a date but it seemed they couldn't have even one peaceful day without a drama. What she had gotten herself into this time?

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

"Where the fuck is this clinic?" growled Logan as he drove in full speed into the forest road to the unknown destination.

"Only five minutes away as it says in the map." said Alison as she glanced back and saw Ashley through the window wiping Ed's face. "Step on it, L." she said worriedly and Logan did as she said. The old engine roared and the car jumped forward.

Just a few minutes later, they reached a security kiosk and a few armed guards who had blocked the road. A fence was going into the forest from the both sides of the road. "What the fuck!" cursed Logan. "What they have here that needed this much security?"

Alison gulped remembering last night's events. Logan stopped the car and one of the guards came to the passenger side and looked at Alison through the rolled-down window. "Miss King." he said curtly.

"I'm here to see my brothers." she said. "My friend needs help. I have talked with Mason and Richard."

"You can pass." said the guard and motioned for his peers to open the road. "Your brothers are waiting for you."

Logan drove again and a minute later they came out of the roof of the forest and saw a giant semi-round building in front of them. So many cars, more army-like, SUVs and trucks, were parked there. Alison's eyes quickly scanned the area and saw Mason and Rich standing in front of sliding doors which was going into the building. Two nurses were standing behind them with a stretcher with them. She tugged at Logan's shirt and pointed to them.

Logan quickly brought the car to halt in front of the building. Rich and the two nurses rushed to the back of the truck where Ashley had sat while Mason rushed to Alison. He quickly grabbed Her shoulders and scanned her body for any injuries. "you made us worried." he said sternly.

"Yeah, I'm sorry but can we talk after Ed is taken care of?" said Alison and wiggled in his hold and once he released her she rushed to the back of the car where the nurses were gently putting Ed on the stretcher. Ashley hugged Alison as they were both ushered by Logan to follow Ed.

"Is he allergic to any specific thing? drugs? anything?" asked Rich who was in a white coat of doctors.

"No, Nothing." answered Ashely as she grabbed Alison's hand tighter. "Is he going to be fine?"

"We will do our best. First, we should check his ribs." said Rich as they entered the lobby of the building through sliding doors and headed straight to the double doors in front. No one was around and Alison was thanking Mason in her mind for not letting men in black walk in the lobby with their guns.

Soon they reached a small but fully equipped medical section. They carefully put Ed on a bed and a second later a beautiful woman in blue medical robes rushed in and stood next to Rich. She was beautiful even without any makeup and looked to be around Rich's age. Her blond hair had been pulled into a simple braid and her blue eyes were fixed on her patient expertly. She was listening well to Rich and was fast to do as he ordered her. She quickly attached Ed to different machines and an IV and checked his vitals while Rich was examining Ed's condition.

Alison and Ashley stood there still hugging each other. Alison finally let her tears fall. Her heart clenched at the sight of Ed like that. Logan stood behind them and hugged both shivering girls to his chest while they were weeping. He was angry like no time. That bastard had caused his brother to be put on the hospital bed, battered and bruised, and had caused his sisters to cry like that.

"What happened for his poor excuse of a father?" he asked Mason who had stood there and was typing on his phone. "Is he hopefully dead?"

"Unfortunately no." answered Mason and then looked up at Logan. "But he was found in an allay with two packages of drugs. He is going to spend the rest of his life in prison."

"That's good at least." said Logan and looked back at Ed with a clenched jaw. Mason left the room when his phone rang.

Rich walked up to the three friends and took off his gloves. "Well, he is going to be fine." he said and the three of them sighed in relief. "His injuries are not serious. His strong muscles have taken the majority of the hit. He is going to have a nasty bruise on his chest. Thankfully, only two of his ribs are cracked. He can stay here tonight to be under our watch and you can take him home tomorrow."

Alison went and hugged him tightly. "Thank you, Rich." she whispered.

Rich hugged her back happily and kissed her head. "Your welcome, little sis." he said and pulled away and turned to the girl that had now stood there. "This is Catherine. She is going to take care of your friend until tomorrow." He said and smiled warmly at the woman who stepped forward and returned his smile. Alison chuckled inwardly at Rich for his obviousness. He had some feelings for the beautiful nurse for sure.

"Hello, I'm Alison." said Alison and shook hands with her. "Thank you for taking care of my friend."

"Hi, dear." she said softly. "I'm glad to finally meet the famous sister."

"When is he going to wake up?" asked Ashley as she stood by Ed's bed and took his hand.

"We have sedated him, so he can rest." answered Rich. "He will wake up at night."

Alison walked to Ashley and stood beside her. Logan stood on the other side of the bed and put a hand on Ed's shoulder. Rich and Catherine excused themselves and after pulling the curtains around Ed's bed, they left. "Thanks to heavens that everything is taken care of and Ed is fine." said Ashley. "We should thank your brothers greatly."

Alison nodded. Maybe they were in the mafia, but surely she could count on them in any situation, good or bad. A sudden sensation of being protected downed on her. It was so good to have big protective brothers who care for her deeply. She remembered the concern in Mason's always emotionless eyes and smiled. Maybe she could ignore the fact that they are in the mafia and stay with them.

Suddenly the curtains went away a bit and Mason appeared. "Alison," he called. "Dad just arrived. He wants to talk to you."

Alison gulped. Or maybe she couldn't.

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A/N: Hi guys. I just wanted to thank you all for your support. Your comments really give me the energy to continue. Maybe I can't answer them all, but thank you all.

Love you,

Ela :)