Chosen

Prologue - Scarlett

It started when I turned 9. I came home after being beaten in my Sparring. Scarlett Cortez got beat. My father is an angry man but he took it too far. I couldn't feel anything that night, only pain. I remember running to my room and locking the door crying. I slid down the wall holding myself in my arms telling myself everything was going to be ok. I could hear him yelling downstairs at my mother. The blood from my lip was trickling down my shirt but I didn't care. I remember he passed out that night on the couch from being drunk. He was always drunk. You could smell it in his breath. My mother was the sweetest woman and got married to a horrible man.

 I could sometimes hear Emily's screams and felt so guilty that I couldn't do anything about it. I was closer to Emily than I was to my mother. She would check on us after any beatings and help us clean up ourselves. Eventually I got "used" to it. I would come home everyday starting to think about what I did wrong this time for my father to be mad. Getting older I got tougher and stronger. 

I always think about the day after I turned 18 Emily and I found out we allied with the Diaz brothers. Having the two strongest mafias allies was too much power. But also that day was the day I met Kai Diaz. He was tough and strong with curly black hair. He showed no emotion. He looked like he could take out this entire room in just a few seconds. 

Eventually Emily, Mason, Kai, and I all grew close. From our fathers being allied we saw each other a lot while our parents doing business. We would mainly train together or just hang out. The Diaz brothers were rude at times but we still grew close.

 Then it was the one night our families were at dinner. I could see my fathers look on his face. It was the look when he had bad news. Well bad news for us. He announced he and the Diaz brothers father had a "present" for the brothers for working so hard. They had to choose their partner for an arranged marriage. Their father told them they were lucky they got to choose. 

That night Emily and I never saw the Diaz brothers the same. Scarlett Cortez would marry Kai Diaz whether they liked it or not.