Special thanks to @jiyoungmochi for the cover!!
--------------
❝𝐀 𝐬𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐨𝐝𝐲, 𝐚 𝐛𝐫𝐨𝐤𝐞𝐧 𝐬𝐨𝐮𝐥. ❞
Renata Vartanov had been through hell. Sold to a brothel and thrusted into prostitution at thirteen along with her then toddler...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
✯𝓥𝓲𝓷𝓬𝓮𝓷𝔃𝓸✯
"Oh, fuck no!" I snapped at Cata.
My morning has been shit so far. Finding out about Ricci's intentions, rescheduling my return, and waking up my pilots and cabin crew up at seven in the fucking morning to get the jets ready.
Now, when I was packing mine and my dogs' shit, throwing stuff in like a fucking madman, Cata came in to announce something that made the hairs on my neck rise in anger.
"She's coming with us." Cata started.
"Absolutely not!" I hissed, clenching my jaw as I threw my dogs' stuff in their duffel bags. They slept quietly at the side of my room, oblivious to the shit going on.
𝐿𝑢𝑐𝑘𝑦 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑚.
"Why not? Quella povera ragazza ha visto abbastanza merda in questi giorni rispetto alla maggior parte delle persone vedere in una vita, tutto grazie a noi. (ᴛʜᴇ ᴘᴏᴏʀ ɢɪʀʟ ʜᴀs sᴇᴇɴ ᴇɴᴏᴜɢʜ sʜɪᴛ ɪɴ ᴅᴀʏs ᴛʜᴀɴ ᴍᴏsᴛ ᴘᴇᴏᴘʟᴇ sᴇᴇ ɪɴ ᴀ ʟɪғᴇᴛɪᴍᴇ, ᴀʟʟ ʙᴇᴄᴀᴜsᴇ ᴏғ ᴜs)." She insisted.
"The least we can do is take her with us to reunite with her brother after we get him." She finished, crossing her arms around her chest.
"No. Non dobbiamo niente a quella puttana! (ᴡᴇ ᴅᴏɴ'ᴛ ᴏᴡᴇ ᴛʜᴀᴛ ᴡʜᴏʀᴇ ᴀɴʏᴛʜɪɴɢ!)."
Her eyes glowered at me with anger and defiance. "I told you not to call her that!" She hissed angrily.
I stepped closer to my sister, my eyes shone with warning.
"You're forgetting something, Catalina. 𝖨'𝗺 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗯𝗼𝘀𝘀," I paused, "which means 𝘆𝗼𝘂 don't tell me what to do." I stated as I held her glare.
Her eyes kept their steel as she glared at me harder, her expression carved into undeniable stubbornness.
I sighed and sucked in a breath.
"Look, Cata," I started, my tone softening. I wasn't going to get through to her by yelling.
"I can tolerate having her here in my house, but I will not have a 𝘄𝗵𝗼𝗿𝗲 there in my home." My tone turned to steel at the last words, empathising with my dissatisfaction.
She scoffed and clicked her tongue. "Detto da te è ricco, (ᴛʜᴀᴛ's ʀɪᴄʜ ᴄᴏᴍɪɴɢ ғʀᴏᴍ ʏᴏᴜ,) when you and your best friend are fucking manwhores!" She started.
My head snapped to her so fast that I could have broken a tendon.
"What did you say?" I questioned, with darkness in my gaze and ice in my tone.
"You heard me. You and Santiago are always out fucking European heiresses, supermodels, and even bottle girls at 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 clubs." Her words were fast and hit a nerve in me.
What I did in my free time wasn't a secret, but having my little sister say it out in the open with so much disgust stinged a bit.
"Truth hurts, doesn't it?" She asked as I looked at her, speechless; she took that as a means to go on.
"So before you judge someone you know 𝗻𝗼𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 about, think about yourself first. You don't know what battles she's fought or the ones she's still fighting, quindi attento, fratello. (sᴏ ᴡᴀᴛᴄʜ ɪᴛ, ʙʀᴏᴛʜᴇʀ.)" Cata finished, the fury in her slowly deflating like a balloon out of air as her shoulders slumped.
This was one of the first times she'd reprimanded me. That took guts, and my sister had plenty. I would've been proud if I wasn't so annoyed.
But I didn't have time to argue with her further. She had won this one, and we were supposed to be leaving for the airport in ten minutes.
I reluctantly sighed and said, "fine. Bring Renata along. I don't give a fuck." I started with a shrug.
I saw her eyes light up before it dimmed quickly as she tried to hide it from me.
She nodded and left my room, petting the sleeping dogs on the head as she did.
I sat on a nearby chair, slinging my arm over it in thought.
Catalina rarely ever spoke up against me. As of now, there have only been two instances. The first was when I tried to shut down her passion for boxing due to fear of her getting hurt, and two...a minute ago.
Over someone she had just met.
She seemed to have grown close to Renata during their time together so far, but even closeness could not ignite the flame I saw in her eyes as she defended her.
Like she saw someone worth defending in Renata.
Whatever it is, it was intriguing. A part of me was delighted Cata has found someone who could possibly be a true friend to her.
She had only two friends, but one of them was always too busy on tour, while the other was a drug addict that worked for me.
Another part didn't want Renata to get too close and possibly hurt the only family member I gave a damn about.
But I trusted Cata. She was a good judge of character, if there ever was one, and if she saw something in this Renata girl, then it was worth a shot.
It could be some kind of experiment of sorts. One to help her heal the wounds she'd long buried.
