Trials & Tribulations | 18+
Every young girl dreams of becoming a princess someday, doesn't she? Perhaps. But sometimes princesses get trapped in castles, and that was never the dream I wanted. For most of my life, I had only one plan: survive Maria and Luca until I turned eighteen, then disappear. My neglectful "parents" barely seemed to care whether I came home, but one question always haunted me. When the time came, would they actually let me go? Then Maria and Luca were arrested on drug charges, and freedom was suddenly within reach. Until their arrest exposed Maria's sixteen-year-old secret. Before Luca, Maria had had a whole other life. One that included a husband and kids. Which she had all but erased when she disappeared while pregnant with the child they had never stopped searching for.
Enter Mr. Castellucci and his seven sons. They weren't exactly the dashing princes of a fairy tale. But what they were, were dark, imposing, frightening men who had spent fifteen years searching for their missing Principessa-and now that they had found me, they had very definite ideas about what happened next. Before I could decide whether I wanted any part of this long-lost family, I was an ocean away from New Haven, beginning a new life on a lavish Italian estate with eight strangers who were adamant that I was the missing eighth child. I had spent fifteen years wishing someone would notice me. Now, being overlooked was no longer an option. Neither, apparently, was leaving. Maybe that was why I didn't notice my dream of freedom slipping away until it was too late. Because the Castelluccis had spent fifteen years dreaming too. One where their missing Principessa had finally come home. And now that they had me, they had absolutely no intention of losing me again.
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My dark and twisted take on the cliché Mafia, Long-Lost Sister/Daughter, and Found Younger Sibling tropes.