'I know I'm hard to love and I'm all broken inside, but I promise you, I'm loving you with everything that I am. I'm loving you with all my pieces.'

"You don't have to tell me anything if you're not ready yet, baby", he whispered, his hand playing with my hair.

"Y-You need t-to know", I said, not wanting to delay it any further.

I trust him. I trusted him more than myself and I know I can tell him this without him judging me.

"I-It started when I was around nine. I would notice my m-mamma and him fighting all the time. It started off s-small, but then it began to escalate and s-sometimes last hours at a time. I was a very s-sheltered child and didn't understand that what I was seeing wasn't n-normal. My mamma always tried her best to keep me h-happy but sometimes I could hear her c-cry when she thought that I was sleeping. She tried to escape with me so many times b-but we would always get caught. But one time, I remember it being different, it f-felt different. My mamma had been planning our escape for w-weeks and it was finally the night it was going to h-happen", I said, stopping to prepare myself for the next part.

I looked over to Luca. He was looking away from me so that I couldn't see his face, but the tight squeeze of our joint hands told me everything that I needed to know, so with a deep breath, I continued.

"It was a Saturday n-night, meaning he was going to be out late that night s-so we decided to leave then. I-It was going well, we had our belongings packed in a backpack a-and some food we had rationed over the week to take for the journey. I-I was still young s-so I didn't quite understand what was happening b-but I trusted my mamma so I did what she told me."

Flashback

"Where are we going mamma?", I whispered to her, grabbing my teddy bear and following her downstairs.

"We are going on holiday, il mio piccolo girasole (my little sunflower)", she said, grabbing my hand in hers and grabbing the packed bag.

We shut off all the lights and made our way to the front door. She turned around to me and told me to be quiet as she opened the door, ready for us to leave.

And there he was.

"YOU BITCH! WHERE THE FUCK WERE YOU GOING?", he screamed, pushing us inside and slamming the door shut.

I had seen him angry so many times before, but this time he was furious.

"Go into your room, la mia scimmia sfacciata (my cheeky monkey). I love you so much, my Liliana", she whispered to me.

Doing as I was told, I hugged my teddy bear and went into my room.

I could hear shouting from downstairs, which was normal but then I heard a gunshot.

End of flashback.

"I-It was so l-loud Luca", I sobbed into his chest, his big protective arms wrapping around me.

Looking up, I saw his face. His cheeks were damp and his eyes were flooded with tears.

I so badly wanted to curl up into him and stay there forever, but I knew that I had to continue the story. For Luca. For myself.

Flashback

As soon as I heard it, I ran to where my mamma was but I was met with the sight of my nightmares.

He was standing there with his gun in his hands and my mamma was lying there on the floor with a bullet in her head. Her eyes were shut and her body was pale. Blood was leaking out so fast and I sat down bedside her trying to wake her up.

"Mamma, I need y-you!", I said, tears running down my cheeks as I realised that she wasnt going to wake up.

"Get a bucket of water and a sponge", he commanded, tucking his gun into the waistband of his trousers.

Scared of what he was going to do next, I did what he said and by the time I came back, mamma was gone. All that was left was the pool of blood on the floor.

"W-Wheres mamma?", I asked him.

"Don't ask stupid questions, you little bitch. NOW CLEAN UP THIS FUCKING MESS!", he screamed at me, making me cry even more as he sapped my face and left, leaving me to clean up my own mammas blood.

End of flashback.

"T-There was so much b-blood", I whispered, the memory burned into my mind.

"I-I'm sorry", Luca whispered, tears still dripping down his face.

"You don't n-need to cry for me", I said, wiping his tears away with my hands.

"I should be comforting you", he said, cupping my face in his hands.

"There's more", I said quietly.

"After that, e-everything changed for the worst. He used to h-hit me. It started off with little hits and kicks but then he began to get more i-inventive."

By the look on his face and from what she saw the day he saved me, I knew he understood what I meant.

"When I got a bit older, maybe a-around twelve, he f-forced himself on me", I whispered in shame.

"I-I swear Luca, I didn't w-want it! I p-promise!", I said, not wanting him to believe anything else.

"I know, baby, I know", he whispered comfortingly.

He looked upset but most of all, he looked angry. He didn't look angry at me, but at what I was telling him. He never once let go of me, it was as if comforting me was his first priority.

"That motherfucker got what he deserved", he mumbled.

"W-What happened to him?", I asked hesitantly.

"When I set up my organisation with the government, one of the things we decided upon was that as long as I continued arresting criminals, if the crime was serious enough, I was allowed to decide the punishment which would be best suited to them. He didn't deserve to go to fuc-prison, he deserved a bigger punishment than that for what he put you and your mother through. It's safe to say that he will never see the outside world again, and as for the attackers, we found out it was the rest of his friends, a little shit called Martin or something lead the group. I've caught them all, you're safe now; I promise you, my Liliana", he said.

I gave him a small nod of gratitude and continued playing with the rings on his fingers.

That thing which Luca had mentioned the other day was on the back of my mind and I knew that this was the time to tell him everything.

"I-I hadn't even started my p-period yet and he would rarely let me go to s-school so I couldn't ask anyone about it. I-I thought that when I started to bleed a lot d-down there, I might have started, but it didn't happen again for w-while. I-I don't even know if I-I can have children", I said quietly, quickly continuing to get it out in one go. "H-he began to come into my r-room a lot more and by the time I turned f-fifteen, he started to bring his f-friends around. I told them that I d-didn't want it, but they didn't listen. I even managed to go to the p-police station, but they called m-my fa-him as soon as they s-saw me. Even school were required to contact p-parents when I wanted to report a c-crime so I wasn't able to get help there either."

"I u-understand if t-this changes things an-"

"It only makes me admire you more. It only makes me feel even prouder to be the person you trust. It only makes me feel more in awe of you. It only makes me lo-like you more", he said.

"Stai bene?", he asked.

"Sempre, con te (Always, with you)", I replied.