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You can't blame gravity for falling in love.
- Albert Einstein
T H E P R I N C E S S
- Alexia Bella De La Rosa -
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BULLETS shot out from the tip of my gun as I hit the targets head, heart and shoulder.
Bullseye, I thought as a smirk etched across my lips as my eyes trailed down to the cold piece of metal that my fingers latched around in a tight embrace.
I took off my headphones and placed them down, emptying my gun and placing it on the ledge with a clatter. Walking out of the gun range, stowed away in the basement of my families mansion, my fingers brushed my long pony tail back over my shoulder and I exited the room. A heave puffed from my lips as I shouldered through the heavy door and closed it behind me with a slam that echoed throughout the empty room.
Just ahead, a small beam of light appeared that instantly flooded my vision as I entered into the main house, the silence I once invited was gone.
On entering the hall, I met eyes with my brother and I found that a brisk smile appeared on my lips as he returned the gesture. I was close to my family and I knew that I could trust them with anything, including my life.
"Lex, papá is calling for you," My eldest brother, Andrew informed me, his eyes scanning over me as he took in my reaction with caution. This caused a sudden rush of nerves to surface and the hairs on my arms stood at the possibilities of the kind of conversation I was about to have.
I loved my father and I was his princessa. A fair but gust man, he was and there was no-one on this earth that I respected more than him.
Nodding obediently, I said nothing and silently brushed past him, feeling his gaze linger upon me as I made my way down the never ending corridor, passing by the maids, who lowered their eyes and rounding the corner, my heels clattering against the marble flooring.
Without knocking, I entered the office, my nose suddenly hit with an overpoweringly strong smell of cigars, expensive cologne and chestnuts. The air was thick with smoke and my eyes burned, darting around the space for any abnormal signs.
As soon as the door had clicked shut behind me, my father looked up from the files that he looked completely engrossed in and a small but fleeting smile appeared across his lips. Stroking a hand across his dark beard that was peppered with grey, the papers in his hands dropped in a disorderly manner and he pushed them away, raising a hand, pointing to the leather chair before him.
"You called for me?" Taking a seat, I sucked in a breath if air and eased into the cushion of the leather, forcing my body to relax.
Silence enveloped the two of us, giving me time to look around at my surroundings, once again. What had my attention returning back to my father was the blank expression that suddenly replaced the slight smile. His usually relaxed features had grown strained and I could suddenly see the age in his features.
The nerves I tried to fight off had won and I schooled my expression to remain neutral.
"Sí, it would seem we have something to discuss..."
"Papá, you seem troubled?"
I bit my lip till I drew blood when he didn't answer. Instead, he sighed deeply, his hands rubbing against his face as he inhaled a deep breath. "Princessa, I must tell you some news...and I am not sure how you will take it."
I said nothing and he continued. "You are a strong women. Just like your mamá and I have raised you to be." He rose from his leather chair and rounded the desk. Moving towards the shelves that hovered against the wall, his eyes settled on a picture of me, when I was just a girl.
At the ripe age of nine, I hung from my fathers shoulders, a toothy grin upon my lips. My father took me sailing that day and I would always remember it to be one of the best days of my life. The fact he stared at it so intently caused my instincts to kick in, fearing what now may have to say.
"Do you happen to remember Damien? The Fernandez boy?" He asked me, his back still facing me, until he turned when I gave him no answer. All the emotion in his eyes had vanished as he paused, waiting for my reply.
Eyeing him warningly, I answered. "Yes. I met him when we were just children." I told him, still not understanding the reason for his sudden mention in the conversation we were still yet to have.
"Well, Alexia, you are to-..."
"Papá..." Shooting up to my feet, I moved swiftly towards him. "What is it? You're scaring me."
"You are to marry him in. Two weeks from tomorrow." My world had stopped as I took in his words.
My breath become short and heavy. My heart began to pound against my chest and my body was frozen. I couldn't move.
"W-hat?" I choked out as I placed a hand against my forehead, as my eyes were shut tightly as I hoped and prayed that this was all just a dream that I was going to wake up from any minute.
This was all too much to handle at once and the fact that I had to marry him in such short notice? That was unacceptable.
"Why?" I sneered furiously.
"Princessa, it was an arrangement to join our two families together! It was set from the moment you were born." My eyes widened in shock at his words.
"You- you- I cannot believe this bullshit." Shifting from one foot to another, I pointed a finger at my father.
"How dare you- I am your only daughter for gods sake. I cannot begin to fathom how you managed to sign my whole life away with one single signature. Was that all I am to you and this family- a guarantee for the safety of your business?" Watching my father raise his eyebrows at my venom laced words, he mirrored my actions, all sorrow and pity gone from his aged face.
"Do not forget who you are talking to, Alexia. I am your father and I demand respect. This is all for your safety, not just the businesses. You will marry Damien and you will learn to adjust to the life that you are soon to become acquainted with." Seeing my father this angry only had a feeling of shame stir within me but just like him, I was far too stubborn to apologise for my actions.
"Fine, have it your way. Just know that I am very angry with you papá." Storming out of his office, my feet carried me through the mansion, towards the stairs.
Grumpily sitting at the edge of my bed, I placed my hands on my head as I tried to control all the thoughts that I couldn't seem to control as they spun like a tornado.
A knock erupted throughout my room. Hearing the quiet tapping sounds, I looked up, only to roll my eyes as my other hermano stepped into the room.
"Lex, we need you, come downstairs," Rodriguez spoke up, hands stuffed into his pockets as a lop sided grin hung from his face.
Running my hands over my face, I rose from my sitting position and followed him back down the stairs.
Taking a left, we furthered our way into the lower section of the house. It was where one room in particular was situated.
The torture chamber.
I could hear the faint screaming of a man become louder and louder as we came closer and closer. My hermano opened the door and in the room stood several members of the males of my family.
"Hola," I said nodding to my tíos, primos and hermanos.
They nodded back as I walked over to the metal table and leaned against the wall, waiting for someone to tell me the reason as to why the man was tied up in the chair.
"This here is Francisco. He was supposed to deliver the crates of weapons to our factory over in España- but he didn't. He was found talking to one of the members of an Italian gang. We thought that maybe you could get it out of him as to why he was talking to our rivals," I furrowed my eyebrows in confusion at this.
"Why didn't you guys just do it yourself?" I asked, my eyes scanning over each of them individually.
"Well we heard you and father talking- then you shouting and we knew you were angry so what better way to release your anger than taking it out on someone who deserves to be harmed," My primo, Pablo, replied with an evil smirk.
"My, my, look at mi familia trying to make me happy." I said smiling, leaving them all copying my expression.
"Now I believe I have some torturing to attend to, so-" I twirled around to be met with the terrified man who was tightly strapped in the chair.
My smile then turned into a grin. An evil grin.
I picked up a knife and walked towards him chucking it up and spinning it around my fingers. It all felt so familiar to me but that's just because I've grown up in this kind of world. The world of crime.
"Now would you like to tell us why? Or shall we do this the hard way and believe me when I say this but I'm feeling very tempered right now so I am warning you to make a decision. The right decision," Walking around him like a predator would with its prey, I could faintly hear his heart pounding against his chest.
"I....I....." He trembled and I rolled my eyes at the way he flinched.
"Well- come on. I don't have all day, so spit it out," I said agitated with how long this was taking.
Turning to face mi familia, I cracked a grin. "I believe you all are making him scared with your intimidating stares. So please, tone it down a little," A series of hushed chuckled erupted throughout the dingy room as I spun back around to face Francisco.
I was favoured by all my family members, probably because I was the youngest female. Therefore I was the most protected and the most loved of the family too.
Only I could make them smile, even my tío Andreas who never smiled or laughed.
Licking my lips, I placed my hands on either side of the chair, leaning back to throw a punch to his jaw. This went on for 10 more minutes.
"Okay okay I'll tell you, but please don't kill me," He pleaded to which I ignored.
"Go on, tell us what you told him," I smiled but the man hadn't seen past the sinister look that hid behind my smile.
"He told me that he was going to kill me if I didn't tell him. I ignored the threat but then he threatened my family and I had to tell him the routes and all information about the next weapon trade," He stated nervously.
"There's 2 problems. One of them being that you blurted out information that costed us greatly." I paused for a brief second before continuing.
"And secondly, well it's quite obvious really," I stated as he tilted his head to the side in confusion as he tried to read my expression.
"We don't scare you guys enough," With that I snapped his head to the side swiftly. He was dead.
He wanted mercy and I showed him that very mercy by giving him a quick death.
"You've gotten better from the last time I saw you torture," My tío Andrea's announced proudly.
We made our way up the stairs for dinner. The chattering between us all being the only sound audible as we headed towards the finding room.
We all lived in a mansion alongside hundreds of guards. We were one of the most powerful Mafia families in the world.
Due to that, I had been homeschooled my whole life and the only friends that I've ever had and known were my hermanos and primos. The closest females would be my mamá and tías as my family are prone to having boys all the time and never any girls. Cue the eyes roll.
"Hola mamá," I said kissing her cheek and sitting far away from papá, ignoring the glances that were shared between my papá and I.
"Princessa, don't be like that," He finally spoke up, dropping his fork onto the plate with a clatter in the process.
Ignoring him, I continued to eat.
"Why were you guys fighting?" My hermanos asked curiously, causing me to tense up instantly.
"It's nothing," I said looking at my plate with a stone cold glare.
"Alexia," my cousin, Antonio, warned sternly.
Sighing frustratedly, I rose from my seat. "I'm getting married in two weeks," Leaving the table immediately, I exited the room, not bothering to look back.
As I was walking up the stairs I heard loud and harsh voices, the volume rising as each second passed.
Laying down on my bed face up, I couldn't help but let a start tear fall down my cheek.
Hearing my door shut, I looked up, wiping my tears away as my mamá pulled me into a hug, sitting down next to me as she smiled.
"Cariño, please don't be sad. I know it's a lot to take in, I mean- I went through it too when I was your age and I was the one marrying a man I hardly knew, but trust me when I say this, it will all be okay. Besides, it's not like you don't know each other," my mother sweetly replied, as she pulled my head onto her shoulder, stroking my hair soothingly.
"But mamá, what if Damien has changed. I haven't seen him in years," I replied back.
"Well, we will find that out tomorrow then won't we,"
"What do you mean?" I asked sitting up.
"Your birthday? At your party?." she laughed as my eyes widened.
"Oh sí! I forgot about that." I laughed.
"I can see that. Now please do get some rest, you've had a long and turning day." Kidding my mamá's, I watched her leave.
I lay back on my bed, staring at the blank ceiling. I guess I just had to see how this would play out tomorrow
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Hope you enjoyed. 💖