Special thanks to @jiyoungmochi for the cover!!
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❝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...
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✯𝓥𝓲𝓷𝓬𝓮𝓷𝔃𝓸✯
This afternoon, I was supposed to be with Zio Carlos, driving him to the airport.
But instead I had to cancel because of the multitudes of tasks surfacing at the moment, piling up faster than I could blink.
Zio understood my situation and was taken by Alberto. He was going back to Spain for a few weeks to tend to growing issues between his workers and the developments of new underground fighting rings, the Perez family's line of specialty.
Tiago's family had been in the business since the Industrial Revolution era, when manufacturing made it easy to build underground tunnels and passages.
Zio wasn't upset about me bailing on him, in fact, he was the one that proposed it.
The reason for my cancellation was because of Cata's insistence on me going with her to the south wing of the mansion, where the rescued boys were kept, so we could properly talk to them and reassure them of their safety.
It was a good idea, but I wasn't keen on doing it.
Don't get me wrong, I loved being around kids. They held a purity and innocence that was rare to come by and their minds hadn't yet been burdened by the true nature of the world. The problem was that kids did not like me at first sight.
Most adults shit their pants at the mere mention of my name, talk less of kids that would have to deal with a big scary looking tattooed man in their presence.
Plus, I'd already left a bad impression when I shot someone in front of them last night.
"Cata, for the last time, go by yourself." I said, breaking our silence as we strolled toward the large passage to the south wing.
"And for the last time, no." She replied.
"What are you so scared of anyways? You're acting like you're going to meet with the grim reaper instead of cute adorable children." She remarked, hitting my bicep with playful teasing.
"Cute and adorable? Aren't you the one that once panicked and condemned the existence of children because Cece vomited on you?" I reminded her with a pointed grin.
She shuddered at the memory. "First of all, I was twelve. I thought babies only barfed when provoked like with baby fulmars and their barf defence. And second, the stench lingered on me for days, even after hours of scrubbing and bubble baths. I swear, baby vomit should be the next atomic bomb. It's disgustingly effective and unlimited, and..."
I tuned out the rest of Cata's vomit spheal, uninterested in her ideas of barf based weapons. I swear, this girl took a discomforting interest in talking about the most weird or inappropriate things.
We arrived at the south wing. I could hear cheerful laughter and whistles dancing out of the various bedrooms.
Cata and I sat in the living room there as she called one of her henchwomen to bring all of the kids out to see us.
