Dangerous Woman I
Sebastian Rodriguez was thirty years old when he first laid eyes on her.
Laura was everything he was looking for and more.
Dark silky hair, perfectly unblemished skin, and then there were her eyes. A striking blue, so rich and deep that they seemed to be endless pools of sapphire.
And at fourteen she was already so beautiful.
Much to beautiful to be living on the streets of São Paulo, Brazil with nothing but the pathetic excuse of a man she called her father.
It was truly fate that had brought them together and he knew he couldn't pass her up.
She was the key to securing his success.
You see, men like Sebastian were ambitious, they were hard working yet misunderstood.
A man like Sebastian was perfect to rule alongside Aurelio Gonzalez in his mafia.
But it had seemed that Aurelio, the new Don had other plans. To Aurelio, Sebastian was too much of a shark, one that was dangerous and unstable.
Unlike his father - the previous Don, Aurelio was too focused on building strong relationships and loyalties, things that Sebastian disagreed with.
Things that wouldn't get them to the top.
And Sebastian could do nothing but watch in horror as Aurelio ruined everything they had built, business wasn't about loyalty. It was about greed and hunger.
The hunger that was never satisfied until they got to the top.
But then a miracle happened and Sebastian was given the chance to get back what was rightfully his. A spot in the mafia, one high enough in the ranks to give him the power he craved.
Aurelio and his wife Maria were cursed. Maria had been pregnant fifteen times and only once did she end up giving birth.
Yet even after the birth of their only child - a son, they didn't give up trying.
It wasn't until Maria had nearly killed herself that Sebastian had realized just how much not having another child had affected the Gonzalez family.
What they needed was a break. A miracle. A gift. One that would make them forever in debt to the bearer.
And so Laura was saved and taken to her new home. Her new home where she was showered in expensive gifts, treasures, wines and the finest silks.
But she was still reluctant to the idea.
"A child is a gift from God that needs to be cherished and shouldn't be valued as any less than priceless." She would say, her kind eyes sparking up at him with so much hope and belief.
But Sebastian was persistent, Aurelio would never accept if he knew Laura was forced in any way. "Did God give you these silks? These treasures? These gifts?"
Laura's chubby cheeks would flush, "Well- no."
"Exactly, he gave you a bastard of a father, a dead mother and a shoebox as a house!" And then Sebastian would watch her head drop in shame and embarrassment.
"Are you grateful for the life you have here?" He would push.
Her head would snap up to his and it was always the same answer. "Of course, Sir. I am forever in debt to you."
"Well then, God would understand our need to give back. My sweet love, we must show our gratitude."
And then her blue eyes would flash with contemplation, until she finally came to her senses. "Of course, Sir."
The child was perceived and the gift was secured.
And then she was born. A girl, one that came into this world the same day Maria Gonzalez miscarried for the sixteenth time.
Sebastian was immediately by their side to console the mourning family, only this time he came with a peace offering. "My child is yours. Yours to keep and do with as you please."
The shock on Aurelio and Maria's faces was a surprise but what came as an even bigger surprise was Aurelio's instant refusal. "I could not possibly take your child." Aurelio spat, the absurd idea already fuelling his anger as he glanced between a teary eyed Laura cradling the baby and a hopeful looking Sebastian.
But Sebastian was persistent. "Then we will raise her, yet she will remain yours. She will belong to you in every sense of the word. And she will remain under our care until you figure out what you would like with her."
Aurelio had a temper and in that moment he had Sebastian up on the wall by his collar in less than a minute. "How dare you show up to my home! On a day of mourning to offend me in the worst way possible-"
"Camila."
Maria had spoken for the first time all day. And when she glanced towards Aurelio with tears in her eyes and a smile on her face, Sebastian knew his plan worked.
They had accepted the peace offering.
"You will name her Camila. You will raise her and in the end you will return her to us when we figure out what we want to do with her." There was no changing Maria's mind.
And thus began the tale of the Principessa maledetta.
The cursed princess.
Camila's POV
I use to collect butterflies.
I would sit alone in the back field at recess, catching them, naming them, and playing with my new little friends. But then the bell would ring and I would have to let them go.
It broke my heart each time. I didn't like it when they left me that was until I found a solution.
One day I had snuck a shoe box into my backpack. It was pink and decorated with the best stickers I had because their new home had to be perfect and beautiful.
My butterflies needed to have a beautiful home so they wouldn't leave me. That was until the first one died and I realised they needed air to breath, sun to known when it was day and water to live.
So, I poked holes in the box to keep them alive and awake.
I had thought I was saving them. Rescuing them, when all I was doing was killing them slowly.
And now I knew how the butterflies must have felt.
I was awake, all the signs were there.
The burn of the sun blaring into my eyes, the tickle of sweat coating my forehead, the sound of the water running in the bathroom.
But I was out of touch with it all.
My movements were delayed and I could feel my mind processing things at a snails pace.
Which explained why it took me so long to register that I was not in my own room, or my own bed.
And when the memories start flooding in I have time to stop myself from thinking or reacting, because in an instant my fight or flight senses kick in but I first focus on breathing. I just need to breathe.
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