Talia's POV

"YOU LITTLE BITCH"

The phone was knocked out of my hand by one of their men. The man then stepped on the phone until I heard a crack, signaling it was broken beyond repair.

"You're lucky the boss wanted you unharmed." he seethed.

I huffed and sat back on my chair. I knew if I tried anything now, it wouldn't get me anywhere and I would just lose more energy. I knew for a fact that I had given the boys my location by opening the phone. My only chance now is to see if they can get me the hell out of here. The security was very tough.

I didn't know how long it has been but I dozed off on the chair. The sound of the metal door forcefully opening snapped me out of my sleep.

"Good news princess, you're father has arrived," Patrick came in.

This immediately caught my attention.

"Now get up. I need to tie you up in case you try something funny." He came forward holding a rope.

My arms were then yanked by him and forced tied up behind my back. Out of the blue, something was placed in my mouth too.

I saw the bastard smirking as he let me go.

"Just a little something to make sure those unwanted remarks and comments don't come out of your mouth." He walked to the door and knocked on it.

After a few moments, men started piling in and seizing me out of the room. The bright lights nearly blinded my eyes. The hallways all looked identical until we got to somewhere that looked like a dock.

There was a ship parked near us and I saw cartons of drugs and illegal weapons stacked on top of each other.

My mind only had one thing replaying, it was the "run" meme urging me to make a run for it. I know I make stupid mistakes but this wasn't one of those times.

If I for once make a "run" for it, I would either end up drowning or getting shot in the ass. These were some of those times I had to bite my pride and stay calm.

After a few minutes of aimlessly standing in the middle of the place, black SUVs and cars pulled up. My family and the boys come out wearing black amour and guns loaded up. They don't look happy and neither do the people holding me.

"Ah, Vanderbilt, so nice of you to finally join us." Patrick's father started.

"If you so much hurt a hair on her body, I will end you!" My father got pissed.

"Now Now, why must we make such violent comments. Don't you want to greet your old friend first?" He made a sickening grin.

"Friend is lost term Gambino. You either give up my daughter or I destroy this place." My father threatened.

"You do that, you lose your precious daughter." Gambino eyes got suddenly darker.

"I WILL END YOUR BLOODLINE!" Aiden yelled.

"Dimitri, control your son." He then got up from where he was sitting.

As he got closer to me, everyone instantly tensed up. He took my arms and grabbed me.

"What do you want Bane?" this time, my father asked calmly.

"What I want? What I want! I want revenge! A life for a life. You took my wife from me!" He suddenly screamed next to me.

"Don't forget it was YOU who started the war and your bullet missing me and hitting her. Do not blame me for YOUR mistake." my father argued.

"No no no! I don't want any of your excuses. I want my revenge and I want it now!"

He sounds like a child.

Suddenly, I was yanked backward and onto the docs. He threw me into the water and shot a bullet.

All hell broke loose then. Gunshots after gunshots were fired. Men screaming were heard in the air.

I heard people calling out my name but I can't tell who it is. I didn't care about that right now. my body was slowly drowning under the water. Thank god that bullet he fired missed me, or else I would be bleeding underwater too.

I couldn't swim up since my hands were tied at the back. My mouth was also gagged so that made this whole situation worse.

I tried to scream, but my head was underwater.

It was only a few seconds but it felt like minutes. I gradually lost oxygen and my body system wasn't responding anymore. My eyes rolled to the back of my head and I was shutting down.

All of a sudden, a body came swimming to me. He grabbed me and pulled me out of the water.

Fresh air was all that was on my mind right now.

"Talia! Talia! Are you okay?"

I opened my eyes and stared straight into Gabriel's hazel orbs.

He got me to shore and untied the ropes. I was in shock that I had no words coming out of my mouth. He understood me.

In front of me was a violent scene unfolding. People were fighting with either hands or bullets. After making sure I was okay, Gabriel quickly rushed to help the boys.

My father and Gambino were in a fight off. Each had their guns aimed at each other.

A flash of steel then appeared at my right. It was one of Gambino's men falling down and dropping his weapon.

I took ahold of it and saw that it was loaded. With shaky hands, I aimed at Gambino. If I mistakenly fired, it would hit my father and we would all lose.

With that in mind, I took a deep breath and pulled the trigger.

"ARGH"

I had hit Gambino right in the back of his legs. My father didn't hesitate to finish him off. His men finally took over.

I didn't know if it was either the shock or the tiredness but I finally blacked out and fell into the darkness.

________________________________________________________________

It had been a week after that incident and I was curled up in my dad's office, reading a book.

I had woken up in my bed with an IV machine next to me. The boys were all relieved when I texted them I was okay and I had to stay at home to monitor my wellbeing as my brother put it.

I was feeling much better now and really wanted to go back to school.

My brothers then barged into the office with the boys. They both respectively took a seat next to me while my father made his way over.

"Boys, I have invited you here to share some news with you." my father started.

He then looked over to me and sighed.

"I have decided to send Talia to a boarding school in Paris to finish her final years of high school"

My jaw literally dropped to the floor. Alex stood up and I'm guessing the others were too surprised to speak.

"You can't do that!" Alex yelled.

My father was taken back, "And why not?"

"If you're sending her for safety reasons, you should know all of us are here to protect her," Alex argued.

"Oh you sure did protect her well last week when she got kidnapped and pushed into the water." my dad crossed his arms.

"That was different sir. We had an argument. It will never happen again." Nathan defended.

"Plus, we will add new bodyguards if you wish sir." Tyler nodded.

"Were you guys a part of this too?" I looked up at my brother.

I knew they were when Aiden looked down.

"Talia, we weren't hell-bent on shipping our sister across the globe but this might turn out to be a very good thing," He sat up straighter, "You could finish your studies peacefully without people trying to kill you, and also you'd be free of...distractions."

He then glared at the boys but their expressions didn't falter.

"Then send us with her too." Gabriel blurted out.

"Enough!"

My father bumped his fist on the table. He then took a deep breath and calmed himself.

"I'm sorry guys but I believe this is an argument you can't win."

I believed him. I did. If I was the girl before the incident, I would've busted my ass off trying to argue with him.

The thing was, I was not anymore. I was now alert of all the dangers around my family name and how violent things can get quickly. If I go to Paris, I would get to focus on my career and what I wanted to do in life. No distractions.

Staying here would only mean not only getting hurt but also putting the people around me in danger. If the timing was right, I would come back. I also think this is the best thing I could do for myself.

Stop depending on others and get stronger and more independent. I would come back for the boys. Just like I know they would be waiting for me.

Sometimes, letting go is an act of far greater power than hanging on.

_______________________________________________________________
Hey guys,

I know it's been a while but I have a lot on my plate right now. If you've been following the news, you might have heard how there's a military coup happening in my country, Myanmar.

It's been a pretty rough week but I'll try my best to update. Thank you for the support!

Laura✨