Chapter 5

The past ( 3 years ago)

It was her 16th birthday and was attended by mafia leaders from across the world. Clad in a floor length blue gown, she was the center of attention and everyone at the party wanted a dance with her. And so did Richard, her father's most trusted partner. Quisito was also present at the event with his girlfriend by his side.

When it was Richard's turn, she innocently began dancing with him, unaware of his intentions. Richard's hands moved towards her lower back, pulling her closer than what was considered as comfortable for her. Her eyes scanned the room for her father but had no luck. The lighting was dim and because of that, nobody saw her distress. Richard's predatory eyes roamed across her body, his alcoholic breath twisting her insides. She tried to push him away gently at first but he wouldn't budge. Adding a little more strength, she managed to pry herself out of his grip.

"Excuse me" she left Richard and went into the restroom with bile rising up to her throat. Clutching the side of the wash basin she breathed heavily in disbelief of what a man, almost her father's age did to her.

She tried to console herself by saying that maybe she was imagining things. But his predatory gaze was filled with lust- no doubt in that.

Not wanting to attract more attention to her missing from the party, she walked out of the wash room. Kate was more than grateful when she couldn't find Richard but the crowded atmosphere of the event made her feel claustrophobic all of a sudden and so she made her way into the balcony that was a bit far from the party, in order to grab fresh air.

She wrapped her arms around herself in the cool night and took two deep calming breaths until she sensed that someone was behind her. She turned to face Richard, who was half drunk and groping her with his hungry eyes.

"Youuu.....shouldn'ttt...have....lefttt...you know..." Richard slurred as he moved towards her, making panic rise in her chest.

She tried to run past him but he caught her by force and smashed her against his body, earning a strangled cry from her. Her whimpers became muffled when he placed an unyielding hand on her mouth, while the other roamed over her body.

They were completely alone at that point and due to the loud music and voices of the guests, no one would be able to hear her cries for help, if he allows her to scream. She knew she had to do something and so she tried pushing him away by his hip, mainly because the bulge in his pants was digging into her stomach. To her fortune, her hand felt the outline of something metallic along his belt– a gun. Without hesitation she pulled out the weapon and stomped on his foot hard enough to make him let her go.

"You.....bitch" he hissed at her as he shook his leg.

She moved back and raised the gun at him, hoping that she could get him to stop.

"I swear to God I'll shoot if you come near me" she warned, her shaky hands trying to keep the weapon steady. But Richard was drunk with lust, way gone to notice the threat. Ignoring the weapon, he advanced towards her trembling form. She instinctively placed her finger on the trigger expecting the safety to be on but.....

She was wrong.

*BANG*

*BANG*

*BANG*

The intensity of the gunshots made her close her eyes but when she opened them, Richard was on the ground, drowning in his own blood. One of her hands clasped across her mouth in shock of what she had done.

She didn't regret defending herself but couldn't help but feel guilty because the man was drunk and out of his consciousness. He had never behaved like this with her before and was always loyal to her father.

What was she going to tell her father when he finds out that she had killed his best friend?

How will he react when he comes to know that his own daughter had destroyed someone he considered like his own brother?

Before self-loathing swallowed her as a whole, she turned around to make sure that no one had witnessed the incident but this time too....she was wrong.

Don Quisito stood at the entrance of the hallway, with a gun in his arm that rested by his side. He watched her with an unreadable expression on his face as he placed his gun in his back and approached her after checking that there wasn't a third person watching them.

Kate had seen the man with her father before but she knew nothing about him.

She didn't know whether she could trust him and began trembling like a leaf when he reached out his hand to remove the gun from her.

Instinctively she hid her face in his warm chest, gentle sobs rocking her body.

"I-I...didn't m-mean...t..to..h-he..t-touched..m-me" Kate choked out incoherently, while continuing to cry like a baby.

Quisito's wrapped his arms around her, providing her with the comfort she craved.

"Shhh...its okay...you didn't do anything wrong" he tried to calm her by rubbing circles on her back.

Eventually her sobbing subdued and when she lifted her tearstained face to look at him, he was already on the phone, giving orders to do something with the body.

"M-my...father will kill me" she whimpered, breathing in short gasps.

"Listen to me very carefully" he said after putting his phone away.

"You will go to the restroom wash your face and pretend like nothing had happened...got it?" he instructed as he looked into her emerald orbs by cupping her face in his palms.

"I'll take care of everything....no one will know about this...I promise"

Kate nodded hesitantly at his assurance and disappeared into the party, while Quisito and his men wiped away all the evidence that conveyed that Kate was the murderer.

After that night, she was grateful to Quisito, until her 18th birthday. Quisito never left her side, not even once, as if he was obsessed by her.

Despite the wave of attraction she felt towards him because of his handsomeness, she always maintained a distance from him because she knew that it was the influence of her teen hormones. Nevertheless, she had a bad feeling about his intentions because his eyes followed her like the shadow of a predator, every time she was in the same room as him.