FIFTY TWO

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Hannah's POV

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"Hannah?" Olivia asked, standing in her doorway. I smiled and she immediately jumped to hug me. She hugged me tight, afraid I was going to disappear into thin air.

"Liv..." I grunted, patting her back. "Oxygen...need..." She immediately let go, smiling at me and trying to blink in tears.

"Where the hell have you been?!" She slapped my shoulder, quickly changing her mood. "We were all worried sick about you! We thought you were dead." 

I looked around, feeling uncomfortable being outside. Even though I was no longer in the mafia, there was still a war going on. A war that I played a role in. He never said anything, but I knew Ace probably had people trailing me. Just because he doesn't love me doesn't mean he wants me dead, I think.

"Let's go inside, then I'll explain." I tell her as I slightly push her towards the door and start to walk in. I close the door behind us, making sure to lock the dead bolt, before going straight to her room. I may not have been here in months, but I still knew this house like the back of my hand.

As I sat on her bed, Olivia gently closed her door before running to her drawer and grabbing my old phone. She sat next to me as she gave me back the phone, causing me to chuckle. If I would've had my phone that night, I probably would've been in a very different situation. It may sound weird, but I'm glad I didn't.

"I'm assuming you want this back..."

"Just trash it, I got a new one." I tell her, holding up the one Ace gave us all. Her jaw dropped.

"That's the newest phone on the market, even I don't have that one yet. Where the hell were you?!"

"I was..." I sighed, thinking of what to say. Regardless of everything that happened, I took an oath. I couldn't tell her about me getting kidnapped, or the mafia. It was all too much information. I'd trust her with my life, but the mafia isn't my secret to tell. "Traveling." I finally finished my sentence.

"Traveling?! Hannah who the fuck gets drunk with their friends and walks off in a club, and leaves from there to travel?! You had no money, no clothes, what the fuck are you hiding?!"

"Nothing, I'm serious. I walked off, found myself in a private room, and met some people. They invited me with them and I thought 'why the hell not?'." I mean, that was basically what happened, the only difference is that I was taken against my will.

"Hannah. You mean to tell me that you, the girl who never breaks the rules, that will literally yell at someone for jay walking, just randomly decided to go traveling with a bunch of strangers?"

"Liv, you were right about what you said before we went to the club. I needed to quit worrying about following the rules and trying to live up to other peoples standards. I needed to live for me."

"So you lived for you by going to the charity gala in Atlanta last month? You hate dresses and can't walk in heels, yet you were walking that red carpet like a fucking model." My eyes widened and I froze. I completely forgot how big of an event that was. People all over the country saw it.

"It was something my friends wanted to do. I just tagged along..."

"How the hell did you even get in? Who the fuck are these people?!" That made me smile.

"Well their names were Sarah, Oliver, Antony, Vinnie, Althea, Leo, Ben...and Ace." I paused for a moment before saying his names. Hell does he even consider me a friend? Or was I just a fuck buddy?

"Okay, now I know you're lying. No offense, but you suck ass at making friends. You've lived in this town for almost five years and your only friends have ever been Jake and I."

"You're not wrong." I laughed. "Sarah was the first one I met. She reminded me of you in some ways. She was very head strong, she knew what she wanted and got it. Then I met Oliver. He was an asshole at first, but he came around to be a sweet little goofball. I got close with Thea and Leo when the five of us took a trip to Mexico together. Vinnie, Ben, and Antony became my friends when we all moved in together."

"Moved in together?"

"Yeah."

"What about the Ace dude?"

"That's...complicated."

"Hannah..." Her eyebrows rose while she tried to cover up her smile. "Did you date him?"

"No." I immediately answered. That was a shock for both Olivia and I.

"Well then why is it complicated?"

"He didn't do relationships." He did, he just was too scared to put a label on it because that made it real.

"Ouch." She frowns.

"Wait so how did you guys get an invitation to the gala?"

"They all work for Russo Industries." I tell her, using the mafia's cover up.

"Seriously?!"

"Yeah."

"I've heard the boss was like, crazy tough, did you ever meet him?"

"The boss was a jackass." I say with confidence, thinking of Ace's father.

"He didn't come around much though, so we all had fun."

"So where all did you go?" I thought for a moment. She would've been pissed if she found out we've been in America and I'm just now coming to see her.

"Well we stayed in Italy for a while, took a trip to Mexico. I also went to Champagne."

"Hannah that's a drink."

"Apparently it's a place too. It's in France." I tell her, knowing she would understand my confusion from a few weeks ago.

"Huh." she mused.

"So, now that you know my last couple of months, what the hell happened around here?"

"Well, when you didn't come back to our table that night, Jake and I looked for you till the club closed. We couldn't reach you because I made the dumbass mistake of taking your phone, so we decided to reluctantly go home, figuring you'd show up again eventually. Jake was bummed out because he thought you went with another guy, I guess he was right. 

"Anyways, we went to the police after twenty four hours. They went back to the club and questioned the workers before quickly writing it off as a runaway from the foster care system." She grumbled. "You know James Williams? The celebrity? Apparently he died in a motorcycle accident near the club that night. Other than that Jake and I basically looked for you everywhere we could think of. We told Anne, your social worker, and she helped us. She was worried about you."

"I should probably call her, huh?" I should probably call Sarah too, if she hasn't already killed Ace.

"Yeah, her and Jake."

"Has Jake...moved on?" I asked her hesitantly.

"No." She smiled softly. "I don't know how you did it, but the boy was obsessed with you. He was with me when we saw you on tv, walking into the gala. It took everything in me to keep him from flying all the way there, it took everything in me not to go with him."

I missed my best friend. I missed Jake too. However, I didn't want to be with Jake anymore, I couldn't. It wouldn't be fair for me to be with him when my heart already belongs to someone else. Jake may be obsessed with me, but I'll always be obsessed with Ace. It kills me to think that I'll never see him again, but I wouldn't change a thing if it meant I never got to meet him at all. 

Loving Ace was probably an impossible task, yet I found a way. I let his humor, his touch, his personality get the best of me. I was, I am, consumed with love for him. Ace may never take someone to be his wife, but I'll never take anyone but Ace.

"Hannah, please don't take this the wrong way. I've missed you like crazy, but why the hell did you come back? It doesn't sound like you wanted to."

"I didn't have a choice." I sighed. "Things with Ace ended...badly. He wanted me to leave, and I had nowhere else to go."

"Screw him, he shouldn't of had a choice in the matter if you didn't want to. What did the others say?"

"I left last night, when they were all asleep. I'm sure they know by now, but I never got to talk to them or say goodbye."

"Hannah!" She slapped my thigh. "We live in the twenty first century. You have a brand new phone in your hand, why don't you fucking use it?!" Thats a damn good question.

I think, in all honesty, part of me was afraid, embarrassed. I was partly afraid of what Ace would say to them or what he would do if they tried to talk to me. I was also embarrassed to call them, though. I know I'd be mad if one of them left in the middle of the night and didn't bother to say goodbye.

I also feel like a coward for leaving. The whole time on the plane, all I could think of was the fight. I should've pushed him harder. I shouldn't have let him win. If I just could've gotten him to calm down, if I just could've gotten him to talk to me, then maybe I wouldn't be here. Maybe I'd be at home, falling asleep next to him.

"You're right." I sighed. I picked up my phone before going to Sarah's contact and hitting the call button.

I know she's probably asleep, but I also know she's probably pissed off at me. If I call her, she'll pick up, but I won't be able to get a word in before the crazy bitch starts cussing me out.

We both sat there silently, waiting for the line to ring. 

It didn't ring though. 

Instead, it went straight to a robotic voice.

"I'm sorry, the number you are trying to reach has been disconnected."

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Hey loves!! For everyone who doesn't follow the twitter account and was freaking out over the sequel please know CROSSING THE LINES IS NOT OVER. We have around 10 more chaps to go but I just could not wait any longer to give you guys a sneak peak of the spoiler. Next chap will be up in around an hour!! Love you guys! Comment and vote!

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