Aria Santo, the only child of the ruthless boss of the most influential cartel in Brazil was taken from her father at only three years old. She was kept in a basement for her entire life, never seeing the light of day until she's finally rescued aft...
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"Fucking hell put on some clothes," Raf exclaims, rushing back out the bathroom and closing the door behind him.
"What are we going to do with her," He sighs, running a hand through his hair.
"Now that she's awake we can do a DNA test and see if she has any family members willing to take her in," I explain. Raf nods in response, turning his head when he sees the bathroom door open.
It takes me a few moments to take in what I'm seeing. She's stood awkwardly in the doorway wearing the pyjamas we left out for her. Her whole body is painted black and blue with painful looking bruises.
But what really catches my attention is her long hair cascading down her shoulders, the bright orange colour immediately drawing my eye.
My breathing quickens as I feel the tension in the room drastically spike. I stand up, my legs moving in autopilot as I stride towards her.
I gently cup her face in my hands, analysing it. Now that the layer of dirt is removed her freckles are no longer concealed and those cute features that I've been praying to see for the past fourteen years come into view.
"Aria?" I ask, my voice cracking.
She shuffles backwards, slamming into the wall behind her. She looks terrified as her eyes dart back and forth between me and Raf.
Realising that we're cornering her, I back up and lift my hands in surrender. "Hey it's okay, we're not going to hurt you," I comfort. "Yeah can you tell us your name?" Raf interjects.
She just shrugs, looking at her feet. "You don't know your name?" Raf softly questions. "I don't have one," She whispers, still avoiding eye contact.
"Everyone has a name," I tell her. She remains silent, not daring to move. I sigh, sensing that we're going to get no information out of her while she's so scared.
"Why don't we sit on the bed," Raf suggests, probably wanting to talk this out in a much calmer environment.
Her face morphs into one of utter panic as her eyes dart to the bed. "The bed...with you two?" She questions hesitantly. My heart constricts when it dawns on me why she's panicking. "Just to talk I promise," I assure her.
She hesitantly agrees, sitting as far pushed up against the headboard as humanly possible while we sit at the end of the bed.
I watch in concern as she winces and rubs her eyes. Realising what the problem is, I get up and close the blinds plunging the room into darkness. "Better?" I ask her. She nods, now being able to open her eyes without squinting.
I sit back down and look at her. The overwhelming feeling of shame washes over me as I stare at her face, I can't believe I didn't realise she was my Ari. I had never gotten a good look at her face and now that I can see her cute little button nose and her big doe eyes it's clear as day that this is my little girl.
