His Princesa - 18+ | Old Version

P R O L O G U E

He frowned, sitting in the chair Mother once was.

"This meeting was your mother's idea, Mija," he explained. "I would have changed the date but by the time I found out about it, the date was set. I'm sorry."

I sighed, closing my eyes. "I would say that it's okay but it really isn't. This was supposed to be my night, Daddy - to be a real teenage girl for just one night."

"Well, you must also remember that your father is the Mafia Don of one of the largest cartels on the continent and your mother is... well, you know how she is." He kissed the top of my head while rubbing my shoulders.

"Are Lorenzo and Dante going to be here tonight?" I asked, grabbing my lip gloss and swiping it over my cherry red lips.

Daddy frowned, shaking his head. "Dante is in Afghanistan and Lorenzo is opening his fifth parlour in California. They'll be here in a few weeks. Lo prometo, nena."

I sighed, lowering my gaze to my hands as they fiddled in my lap. "What is this meeting for?"

"That's for me and your mother to know," he simply said, one of his eyebrows raising. "Dinner will be served when our guests arrive. Try to be good. If not for your mother then at least for me."

Slowly, I nodded, sighing to myself. This was going to be the longest night of my life. I glanced at the window and immediately thought of opening it and throwing myself out of it to get away from this business meeting.

"Vanessa! They're here!"

I frowned and Daddy chuckled, kissing my cheek before leaving the room. I fixed the red dress I was wearing, adjusting its spaghetti straps before grabbing a pair of darker red heels from my closet. I fixed my black hair, my nose wrinkling at the waves my mother insisted on straightening for tonight.

"Let's get this over with," I mumbled to myself, grabbing the leg strap from my drawer. I put it under the knee-length dress before grabbing my favourite black dagger and slipping it into the additional pouch.

With one last glance in the mirror, I exited my room. I could hear Mother and Daddy talking to someone and I slowed my movements, stopping my legs from walking. They were laughing and talking enthusiastically, and I stayed in the hall.

"Nervous?" A deep voice asked from behind me. I turned around, my hand going to the knife that was pressed to the back of my thigh.

"Who the hell are you?" I demanded him to answer, my eyes narrowed in his direction and his lips twitched into a small smirk.

"Gabriel Díaz," he said, grabbing one of my hands and pressing his lips to the back of it. "What are you wandering the halls for, princesa?"

"I could ask you the same thing," I said, pulling my hand back. "Shouldn't you be with my mother and father?"

"Their conversation bores me," he simply said, leaning against the wall. "Unless you have fun talking about drug deals and money."

I didn't respond, scanning him from head to toe. He was wearing a silky grey button-up that was tucked into his black pants; the shirt was was tight around his giant biceps, though, and it looked ready to burst.

Going through the arch of his eyebrow, going down his eyelid before it ended just below his eye, and it was that one scar that made him look even more intimidating.

"Do you know why you're here?" I asked him, my hand still skimming the knife on my thigh as a precaution if he tried to touch me.

"Definitely not to get killed," he spoke and before I could rewind what he said in my mind, he had my front pressed against the wall. He grabbed the knife I was fiddling with from its pouch on the back of my thigh and held it in his much larger hand, eyeing it with interest while keeping a firm hold on me.

"I must admit, I didn't notice it until you kept your hand there," Gabriel mumbled, twirling the blade of the knife between his fingers. "Quite an interesting thing to keep under your dress, princesa."

"What I keep under my dress is none of your concern," I simply responded, taking the knife from him and slipping it back in its pouch.

"It is when it's the weapon you were going to attack me with," Gabriel retorted. When I didn't say anything, he continued. "What's such a young girl like you carrying a knife, anyway?"

"I'm not a girl," I harshly spoke. I made my way to the staircase, feeling his presence behind me as I walked. Under my breath, just before I began to descend the staircase, I muttered, "Idiota".

I could hear Gabriel's raspy chuckle from behind me as we both descended the stairs, spotting the group of adults that were gathered on the newly bought black leather sofas. I stood beside a wall as I watched them converse, their fake laughter and overly-enthusiastic voices making me cringe. The last thing I would ever want to do was pretend to be friends with someone just because I wanted to suck up to them in case something were to happen to me.

"How often do you do business meetings like this?" I asked Gabriel as he brushed my arm with his.

"Not often," he responded, rolling his sleeves up. "Your mother told me that it was important for me to come, however, because it has to do with a sudden alliance she's been so persistent with for the last two years."

I pursed my lips, watching as my mother gave Daddy a kiss on the corner of his lips. I smiled at the grin that grew on his lips, resting my head on the wall. Despite my mother being a complete control freak and the obsession she had with me becoming exactly what she wanted me to be, there were many days she made me happy - she made my father happy, too, and she made me happy most days.

And my father looked in my direction and his grin widened... Until he turned his attention to Gabriel. The grin immediately disappeared and a scowl replaced it and when he made eye contact with me once again, I smiled and shook my head. He glared at Gabriel again before pulling his attention away from us.

"What's your significance in this, princesa?" Gabriel asked me.

"Vanessa is fine," I said, pursing my lips at the nickname he kept calling me. "Despite the fact that my mother is trying to control me, I'm the heir to the business my father is currently running. My older brothers didn't want to live their life in meetings and having to take so much responsibility whereas I know that I'll be able to handle it."

Gabriel hummed. "And when exactly are you taking over this business?"

I shrugged nonchalantly, throwing a quick glance in his direction. "Soon. My father said how my brother was supposed to take it over at twenty-one so I would think that—"

"Vanessa!" My mother excitedly called over, a giddy smile on her face when I looked at her. "Come here, Mija."

I sighed, fixing my heels before I made my way to the large living room, sitting on an empty sofa. Everyone had their attention on me and I found it odd but I didn't let my confusion show on my face as I looked between my mother and father.

"We have an important announcement," Daddy spoke this time, standing up and walking towards me. When he opened his hand for me to take, I grabbed it and stood with him, looking around the business partners I knew were closest to Daddy.

"What is this about?" I asked into his ear but he ignored my question, showing off a small smile.

"As you all know, my only daughter Vanessa has been the largest help to the family business since she was the young age of fourteen," Daddy said, his grin telling me just how proud he was to call me his daughter. The thought made me smile. "She has been the one to deal with the deals I couldn't deal with while I was working, she had set up several shipments throughout this year alone, and she has grown up training herself to be the beautiful young woman she is before you.

"My daughter has been by my side, taking over almost anything I couldn't do because of my work. She was by my side when my sons weren't, and when my wife couldn't be. It is why..." He turned me to face him and gave me something I never thought he would consider giving me.

A gun — a pistol, to be exact. But it wasn't just any pistol; it was the exact pistol that my grandfather had given Daddy when he was ready to give his leadership in the mafia down to him. And when the gun was put in my hands, my eyes were wide as I stared at it.

"After tonight, Vanessa Martina Kingsley will be in charge — she is your new mafia queen and if there is any problem with her being so, you are asking for a death wish."