ROSARI

Now at twenty-four, Rosari realizes life will always be that dreadful. She'll stay pinned under Enzo's control as a mere pawn to be used when he sees fit. She'll stay entertaining the scumbags who call her father a friend of theirs, not knowing what it means to her. She'll put up with the bullying and insults that come from the guards around. And she'll continue living under the same roof as the man who let her mother die.

But perhaps things will take a different turn.

I have a plan I think will benefit us both, Josi had told her, though no further details were disclosed. Rosari's interest was piqued right away. She wants in on whatever Josi has planned, because the only thing that could benefit her would be the freedom from her father.

The garden is where Rosari spends most of her time. The assortment of flowers help bring her the tiny bit of comfort her father fails to provide. She'd even once dreamed of becoming a florist, but with a world as chaotic as hers, it was practically impossible to set it in motion.

So she enjoys her time of peace there, plucking and pointing out flowers of sorts, though the season has gradually begun transitioning into the summer time. The harsh sun may damage the shrubs, but Rosari will see to it that not much damage is done.

But her peace, however, is once again scotched. It's a guard this time, the ones who usually pick on her because they know Enzo won't do a thing about it. This one's cheeks are too red from the sun, and his hair looks like it's been gelled back, but with sweat. He comes to a stop behind Rosari and sticks a hand in his pocket.

"There's a gun missing from the training area."

"What does that have to do with me?" Rosari asks, her attention still on the bush of lilies.

"I heard someone enter the training area when I left. Who else could it be?" But Rosari knows it's all a ruse. He'd probably taken the weapon and is just looking for a scapegoat. And who better to blame than the outcast?

Rosari sighs and plucks a lily. "Go ask Enzo. I'm sure his dumbo ears pick up on everything."

But the reply does little to turn the guard away. "Your father won't be too happy when I tell him you took the rifle."

"I told you I didn't do it." Says Rosari, growing more and more irritated.

"That's not what he's going to believe." The guard smirks. "He'll ship you right off to that old man, Ziegler. I heard he uses his women as decorations. You'll do just good as his bed warmer."

Rosari's grip tightens around the lily. Why won't they just let her be? "I'm sure your deflated dick has a lot to say about someone else of your calibur. Why don't you go worry about digging your head further up Enzo's ass so he increases your pay?"

It doesn't seem possible, but the guard grows redder than he already is. Rosari plucks one more flower and leaves the garden for the next destination she feels won't garner her much attention. But much to her dismay, she spots Enzo down the hallway. He has his colleague in a conversation with him as they walk in slow strides. Rosari tenses up at the sight of him, but swallows down her disgust and keeps it pushing.

Enzo is equally repulsed. "What are you doing on this end?"

"I'm heading to the library." Rosari tells him, her eyes full of her own glimmer of dread.

Enzo scoffs and moves past his daughter, already weary of the sight of her. "Don't let me set my sights on you for the rest of the week."

Rosari balls her fists and tries steadying her heartbeat. But just when things feel like they're calming down, Enzo's colleague decides to add to the fire.

"She looks more and more like her mother everyday."

To which the crime boss replies, "Don't remind me of that gold digging bitch."

Rosari remains glued to her post. Her jaw clenches hard, brows knit in a thin line of uncontainable scorn. The things she would do to have Enzo regret his life, to have him on the receiving end of the torment.

Josi's words float into her head once again.

I have a plan I think will benefit us both.

Rosari's hands finally rest at ease by her side. She will give Josi a chance. She wants to know what the girl has in store. What more is there to lose?

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Later that day, Rosari leaves the estate in search of the meet-up location Josi gave her. It's a bar somewhere in the middle of each girl's home, so it doesn't take long before Rosari arrives. It's crowded as expected; music, drinking, and even the smell of cigarettes. She makes it towards the back for the window seats in search of Josi, but it seems she hasn't arrived just yet. Rosari sighs and occupies a booth. She'll have to wait.

But not even five minutes into her stay and an interruption arrives. The new guest flashes her a wide smile that practically makes his teeth sparkle. From the way the lines around his lips crease, Rosari can tell the man is well into his late forties or early fifties.

"A penny for your thoughts?"

Rosari releases an exaggerated exhale. She's used to situations like this; uninvited guests who think their presence are important enough to flatter her. "I don't want any pennies."

Even with such a blatant reply, the guests never seem to take a hint. "I know girls like you always want to be spoiled." Intruder tells her with a grin.

Despite how sour things are for Rosari Maranzo, she still takes pride in her looks. It's the one thing she knows her father had no part in because there's nothing of him in her. It's all her mother-from her lengthy hair to her faultless face and golden skin.

It sometimes leaves Rosari wondering why a woman as beautiful as her mother would want to settle for the likes of Enzo, a man unlucky enough to live with a face so unflattering.

The silence is finally put to an end by Rosari herself. "Every time you open your mouth, there's a tree somewhere in the world that dies."

This clearly is not the sort of response Intruder was expecting. His smile drops, but before he can respond, Rosari beats him to it. "You're short, you're hideous, you're balding, you're wrinkling, and soon, you're going to die. Why would I waste my time on you?"

Intruder's mouth falls open in surprise, until his anger kicks in and he clenches his teeth. "What the fuck did you just say?"

"I said you're short, you're hideous-"

Intruder tries sending a hand for Rosari's blouse but fails, because someone grabs his arm before he has the chance. Rosari looks at the new arrivals and finds Josi with an unknown girl whose hand is firm around Intruder's arm.

"Who the fuck are you two?" Intruder snatches his arm away. He decides the best way to handle the situation is to throw a tantrum. "I'm going to report you all to the manager and have all of you pay!"

The girl pats Intruder lightly on his back and offers him a smile. "I have a gun." She grips his shoulder, and the man winces at the pain. "It'll be horrible if something bad happens to you. Say, if you accidentally have bullets buried in your legs."

Intruder hiccups in fear just as his anger begins to diffuse. He curses under his breath and walks away, sweat trailing down his face. He can pretend like the embarrassment didn't get to him, but it's a different story to the three girls present.

"I had my taser ready." Rosari holds up her mini weapon. "I was kinda hoping to see his face when I zapped him. But thanks."

The girl slumps down next to Josi. "Don't mention it."

Rosari swims in silence, studying the two women in front of her. Until finally her confusion wins. "Wait, who are you?"

The girl laughs at the inquiry. It seems she'd been expecting the question. "Dami. Just Dami."

"No, Dami was the blonde girl at the party . . ." Rosari trails off, once again baffled. The girl in front of her has much shorter curly black hair, as opposed to the blonde she met at the party. What bogs her mind most is the fact that she now has cheekbones. Rosari sighs. She's given up. "I need a drink."

That's what the three handle next. Dami is at the frontline with three glasses of varying drinks which she takes great pleasure downing. Josi goes with a mug of beer, while Rosari takes a glass of Manhattan for herself. Then the three finally get down to business.

"That Shrek look-alike was going to marry me off to some old creep if I didn't make your boyfriend fall for me." Rosari tells Josi. "But what's even more mind boggling is the fact that nothing seemed to work on him, so I had to lie to that cave goblin and told him he was falling for me. I mean, not to sound conceited, but I'm gorgeous. I just want to know how you were able to make him fall for you so hard."

"I'd like to know as much as you do." Says Josi. "And I'm guessing Enzo was hoping to unify his family with the Verdonnis using his daughter."

"That sick bastard isn't my father."

Both Josi and Dami study her. "Then you won't mind if he dies?" Dami asks.

Rosari has to stop and think. Sure, Enzo is a tyrant with evil ways that often made her stop and wonder if he actually were human. He's a maniac, a dreadful man who abused not only her but her mother. He built his name off the blood and misfortune of so many others. A cold-blooded murderer, a man with no remorse. That's who Enzo Maranzo is.

But did Rosari hate him enough to have him die? The answer is an evident yes.

"I won't . . . I won't mind at all . . ." To be free of Enzo Maranzo, to have his existence cease completely; it's a thought that has crossed her mind on multiple occasions. And she's finally gotten the chance.

Both Josi and Dami seem satisfied with her answer. "Don't tell anyone about this or Dami will have to take precautions." Josi tells her. "If you know what I mean."

Rosari gazes at her drink and sighs almost nostalgically. "Death threats. I haven't gotten those in a while." She knocks back the rest of the cocktail.

Dami gives Josi a look bordering on concern. "You know, you looked exactly the same when I threatened you. Starting to think I attract weirdos."

Rosari sets the empty glass to the side and gives her attention back to the two girls in front of her. "Anyway, can we talk about what we're going to do about that evolution reject?"

"As soon as you bring me the secret on the Toulours he's hiding." Says Josi.

"It'll take a lot to do that," Rosari tells her. "I mean, I can't just tell him, 'Hey, daddy, I know I'm the daughter you despise, but can you just do me this teensy tiny favor that will eventually lead to your downfall?'" She shudders at the horrid image she's just painted. "I do know how we can get it, but I can't do it alone."

Dami and Josi both grin. "That's what we're here for." Josi says.

Rosari goes quiet. The two women in front of her come off sketchy, like their idea is all a ruse. What could they possibly do to put an end to Enzo, a head of a crime family? As much as she would like to trust them, she thinks it's best to ask some questions of her own.

"Just what do you need that info for in the first place?"

"It's to save my own skin." Josi tells her. "I'm kind of on their hit list."

Rosari grows skeptical. "Then why doesn't Idris handle it?"

"Because she made him her bitch." Dami answers.

Josi shakes her head. "If he were my bitch, I'd already have had him jump off a cliff before having him turn himself in to the police."

"He's still a work in progress." Dami nods, in the middle of unwrapping a lollipop. "Bitch junior. Soon to be senior."

Rosari just stares at them both. "So I'm going to assume Idris has a kink. Otherwise, what does this all mean?"

"Long story short, I'm not really in love with Idris. But I need him to believe I am so I can screw him over."

Now it all makes sense. The reason behind Josi's laxed reactions towards her interest in Idris. "What did he do to you?"

The look in Josi's eyes falter, as though she were lost in some distant memories of the past. "He made my life hell for the fun of it. Drove the love of my life away, kidnapped me from my family and kept me locked up in that hellhole . . . All because he had feelings for me."

Somehow, Rosari isn't surprised. Men like Idris always want something to call theirs, something they're entitled to, something they want control over. It matters little if there's no space for them in your life, because they will create some. Forcibly.

"He's good in bed, I'll give him that." Josi says, a means to make light of the situation. But Rosari can tell she's trying to suppress the rest of the hatred she has for Idris. Though she allows some of that hate seep through. "Pretending to love that bastard is the hardest thing I've ever had to do."

". . . why don't you run away?"

"I attempt to run and he goes straight for my family," Josi shakes her head. "He hasn't come right out and said it, but Idris is just that kind of man."

Rosari goes quiet. This certainly is not the sort of story she expected. She even starts to feel pity, though not for long because Josi, noticing the sympathy on her face, brings her back to reality. "Back to Enzo."

"Right . . ." Rosari exhales. "How exactly do you plan on taking out that sewer rat?"

Josi smiles and begins filling Rosari in on matters. This is the first step towards ridding of that scumbag known as her father. The scumbag who let her mother die. Rosari will do anything it takes to have that happen. She will aid Josi, and when the time finally comes, she will witness Enzo's true demise.

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