Chapter One

Her name was Evangeline Selene Monroe. She was a tiny woman, only reaching five feet exactly. She had the body of a model, though her breasts and butt were a bit too big for her body type. She had thigh-length wavy black hair with moonlight silver streaks throughout. Her eyes were a mysterious amethyst with a silver ring around her irises. She had a smile that could melt anyone's heart. She had a unique butterfly necklace that she never took off. She knew that it was special to her because she had had it for as long as she could remember. She also had a few tattoos. She had a large one on her thigh of a phoenix surrounded by flames that also wrapped around her thigh and went up to her hip. There was also one partially wrapped around her belly button. This one was a small blue and purple dragon. It went well with the swiss topaz, dangling moon, and stars belly button ring. Then she had a third one on her left shoulder. It was blue lilies and red roses with emerald green vines that flowed with them across her upper back.

She was the sweetest woman anyone could have met. She always tried to put everyone else before herself. She took care of others no matter the cost to herself. It was just who she was.

When she was four years old she had been taken from her family. She was given to a couple that neglected her all the time. If she cried for her family she was locked in a closet for days on end. By the time she was six, she was taking care of herself. She only cried for the family that she had been stolen from at night when she knew everyone else was asleep. She had learned that the more she cried the longer she was locked in a closet.

When she was ten the abuse started. She was beaten daily. When she did leave the house she had to learn how to use makeup to cover the bruises on her neck and face. She also wore long sleeves and pants all the time to cover the rest of the bruises. It lasted for two years when suddenly she was moved to a camp. She didn't know what kind of camp it was when she first got there but she learned rather quickly.

It was an assassination camp. Weak boys and girls were sold or taken from their families to be trained into the world's deadliest assassins. She caught on quickly. Learned quicker than anyone else ever had. By the time she was sixteen, she was the deadliest assassin. Sure people were frightened of assassins no matter who they were, but when they heard Evangeline's name it was a different type of fear. It was a knowing fear that their lives were about to end and there was absolutely nothing that they could do about it. Because no matter where they hid or how many guards they had for protection

she would get to them. She could go against an entire army of fifty trained men and come out the victor. She could sneak into even the toughest of buildings with ease. She was fearless and she was deadly. No one could defeat her.

That wasn't who she was though. She did those jobs to survive. To keep living so that she could help the other kids that were brought in after her. That was exactly what she did. She helped other kids that were brought in every chance that she could. Whether it was in training or studies. She helped them keep their humanity. She helped them hold onto their old selves. She even went to the torture chamber for them several times, saying that it was her who did things that one of them did. She didn't care. She took the blame for anyone who needed it. She was a protector of sorts. She even helped some of them with missions she knew they couldn't handle. She knew that those types of missions were tests. And if they were to fail they were killed or tortured.

A person could only take so much though. She was close to losing her humanity and everyone who knew her could see it. So they supported her when she said she was going to leave. They knew that she would be back for them once she had gotten the resources that she needed to get to them. It was only a matter of time.

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Evangeline had been with Luca and Aurora for a few months. She knew that she had to tell them what had happened to her so that they knew how to help her. She had to do it soon because she knew a blackout was coming and those were never good for anyone around her. There had been several times when she was at the camp that she had to be chained up for a couple of days because her blackouts were that bad.

"Luca. Aurora." She said softly as she walked into the living room. "Could I talk to you guys about something?" She asked as she sat across from them.

They both nodded. "Of course," Luca said as they both gave her their full attention.

She sighed and handed Luca a stun gun. "Just in case." She muttered. "I don't know what's going to happen once I tell you this"

He frowned but nodded. "Okay. We're listening."

She took a deep breath and told them everything about her past. Everything that had happened to her. Of course, she left out as many of the gory details as she could but there were some

things that they simply had to know to help her. "I understand if you no longer want to help me." She said quietly. "But I thought that it was about time you guys knew what had happened to me."

Before they could respond she felt it happen. Her body started trembling as she tried to sit completely still. "Luca. Hit me with that stun gun and then go hide. Now." She said through clenched teeth.

He did as she said. He hit her with the stun gun and took Aurora to their bedroom. Because his brother was the leader of the biggest mafia in Italy he had installed several locks on their bedroom door just in case.

She blacked out and when she woke up she was calm. She didn't try to hurt anyone. She simply went to the bathroom with one of her sharpest daggers. She filled up the tub with hot water and got in, with only her bra and panties on. She took the dagger to her wrists and thighs. She knew that the people who she thought were still in the house were good. She'd rather hurt herself than hurt them.

She laid in the tub with her arms and thighs bleeding into the water. Willing to let herself die rather than hurt innocent people.

Luca paced around their room. "I don't hear anything anymore Luca," Aurora said quietly with her ear pressed to the door. "Maybe we should go and check on her."

Luca sighed as he stood in front of her. "You stay here. I'll go."

He made sure she locked the door again before going to explore the house. He was shocked when he got to the guest bathroom and found Evangeline in the tub. "Aurora, we need to call an ambulance." He shouted through the house as he pulled Evangeline out of the tub.

He quickly tore one of their smaller towels apart and tied them around the cuts that Evangeline had made on her wrists and thighs. Aurora came into the bathroom and covered her mouth with her hands. "Oh my god." She whispered.

"Is the ambulance on the way?" he demanded.

She nodded. "Be here in two minutes." She said quietly as she stared at Evangeline with wide eyes.

He nodded. "I need your help. We need to put pressure on all of her wounds. Grab her thighs for me."

They kept the pressure on the four cuts that Evangeline had made on herself until the ambulance arrived. "What do we have?" One guy asked.

"Four self-inflicted cuts," Luca said. "Her wrists and thighs."

The EMT nodded and got to work. "You can come to see her in the hospital." He said before they drove away.

Luca and Aurora made their way to the hospital. They rushed up to the desk and Luca spoke with the nurse. "We're here for a woman that was just brought in."

"What's her name?" The nurse asked.

"Evangeline Monroe," Luca muttered as he wrapped an arm around Aurora.

The nurse typed the name into her computer. "I'm sorry there's no one in the system by that name."

Luca frowned. "She was just brought in with cuts on her wrists and thighs." He explained.

The nurse nodded. "She most likely isn't in the system yet. If she was brought in by ambulance with no identification on her then you'll have to wait for the doctor to come out."

Luca sighed. "Okay. Thank you."

Luca and Aurora sat in the waiting room for about thirty minutes before the doctor came out. They both rushed to their feet and made their way to him. "How is she?" Aurora asked with a worried frown.

The doctor looked at his charts. "Are you here for the suicide attempt?" He asked.

Luca sighed. "Yeah."

The doctor nodded. "Okay. She's going to be fine. Her cuts were pretty deep but you found her just in time." He looked at his charts. "We would like to keep her here for a couple of days to watch her."

Luca shook his head. "That won't be necessary."

The doctor frowned. "She tried to commit suicide." He said as he furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. "She needs to be watched." He said as he waved her file around.

"We'll watch her. She won't be alone again." Aurora said as she held onto Luca's arm.

The doctor sighed. "Alright, that's fine. We'll just need you to fill out some paperwork for her before we can let you take her home."

"Could we see her first?" Aurora asked.

The doctor nodded. "You can sit with her while you fill out the paperwork. Just grab it from the nurse before you go in."

"Thank you," Luca said.

They grabbed the paperwork that they needed and went to Evangeline's room.

When they walked into her room she was sitting up with a grimace. "How are you feeling?" Aurora questioned as she rushed to her side.

Evangeline exhaled roughly. "I'm okay." She looked at Luca and Aurora with fear and devastation in her eyes. "I'm sorry."

"Why did you do this to yourself, Evangeline?" Aurora whispered.

Evangeline blew out a rough breath. "I didn't want to hurt anyone innocent. I knew that you two were the only two close to me so instead of hurting you I hurt myself." She shook her head. "I won't hurt innocent people. Even when I was an assassin working for those damn camps. I never hurt anyone innocent."

Aurora covered her mouth as tears slid down her cheeks. "You did this to yourself to keep us safe?" She asked in a whisper.

Evangeline nodded. "Yeah."

Aurora leaned over and hugged Evangeline tightly. "We will do everything that we can to help you, Evangeline." She said quietly.

Evangeline sniffled. "Are they letting me leave now?" She questioned.

"Yes. You just have to fill out a little bit of paperwork first." Luca said.

Evangeline sighed and got to work on the paperwork before leaving the hospital with Luca and Aurora.

Ever since that day Luca and Aurora made sure that Evangeline wasn't left alone. For a while, they kept a close eye on her but over time saw that she was fine on her own. Luca still had her work for him at his company just in case. It was also because she was the best assistant that he had ever had. And he needed her. Though the more days that passed the more he could see her pulling away from him and Aurora. She was distancing herself from them and he didn't know why. He knew that she would talk to him when she was ready though. She always did. He just had to wait for her to be ready.

Until then he would continue to keep her close and help her in any way that he can.