Disclamier- I do not own Bleach

SUMMARY: Veronica Torres's whole life seems to revolve around shady businesses. Her father is the leader of one of the biggest gangs in L.A and to keep a possible war from happening between Las Rosas and the leading yakuza in L.A, her father betrothes her to the Don of the Kuchiki Family. Veronica now not only has to deal with how her life seems to just revolve around the business, an upcoming wedding, a cold and hard husband and a competition she never saw coming.

Most people my age at this time would just wish they didn't have to go back to school and wish they had easy classes. The girls would worry about the clothes they would wear on the first day and the boys would worry about looking fly and getting girls. They wouldn't have to worry about a possible war between their dad's gang and the leading Yakuza in L.A. Those kids don't have to worry about crap like this, but I do.

Fuck my life.

I gave an exasperated sigh and kicked my right leg on the floor. I then proceeded to pace back and forth on the beautiful and expensive dark wooden floor.

A simultaneous low sigh escaped from the 2 guards that stood by the giant black, glossy door leading to the office.

Not my meeting room. God, no. I am currently outside said meeting room waiting for my dad to come out.

My dad's name is Roberto Torres. He is the leader of one of the biggest gangs in L.A. He is leader of Las Rosas, The Roses. My dad said that he named it like that because when he was little back in Spain his mother kept a rose garden and he just fell in love with the smell of roses.

Stupid.

Anyways, Las Roses controls most of the gangs in L.A. And with power comes trouble.

We had a truce with the Yakuza of L.A. we may be powerful but we're not that powerful. Especially against all the Yakuza here. So the truce kept everything cool with no problems. Except until quite recently.

2 months ago, in one of the casinos that the Yakuza own, 2 members of one of the gangs we control and support were found severely beaten.

When we asked them what happened they said that there was a fight and they were taken outside and beaten.

The video tape from the casino told us that there was an altercation, it seemed like our guys started and then they were taken outside.

We apologized since it was clearly us who started it but that didn't stop the tension from mounting.

Fights sprang out, words were called, and guns were cocked. It was horrible.

My father did not want a war and neither did the leader of the Yakuza, a man whom I have never met.

The leading Yakuza in L.A is the Kuchiki Family. The leader of the Kuckiki Family is a man named Byakuya Kuckiki. My dad is having a one-on-one meeting with this man; they are trying to settle things out in the mature way.

I am anxious that he is inside all alone. He said he didn't need to bring any other guards. He also said that I had no reason to coming with him. I still came. I love my dad and I want to be by his side. I'm sort of his adviser. Of course I don't know the answers to everything, I'm only 16, but, my dad says that I have my boundaries and principles straight. I guess that means something to him.

I was pushed out of my thoughts by the black doors pushed open. I saw the familiar frame of my father and my heart stopped its erratic beating.

His face was tense, his shoulders were too. His light green eyes were narrowed. His handsome features were scrunched in annoyance.

He nodded to the guards. "Let's go." he said suddenly, not even looking at me.

Uh oh, something went wrong. Holy crap. Did this mean we were going to war?

I walked faster trying to catch up with my dad's long strides.

I didn't ask him any questions until we were outside of Kuckiki Enterprise, the company that has run in the Kuckiki family for years. It specializes in owning banks and other smaller businesses and such things.

"Dad…" I started but all I got was a hand raised signifying 'not now, Veronica.'

We got into an old school Mercedes-Benz. My dad only uses this car; just like the expensive black suit he has on, when he goes to see important people.

We drove in silence all the way to Reyes Factory. It was owned by my dad's partner and best friend Victor Reyes. This was the hideout and headquarters for Las Rosas. Here we store marijuana, fire arms, stolen cars and other things. The factory was close to our house that was located in a working class neighborhood.

My dad dropped of the car in the underground parking lot and changed into jeans and a buttoned up white shirt.

We hopped on our comfortable and familiar black Chevrolet Silverado.

I never liked all the expensive things that were never needed.

We reached a stop light and I fired away. "What the hell happened?"

He sighed. "Language Vero, language."

I gave him a tired and annoyed stare. "Dad, please tell me."

"Nothing bad happened, I suppose. Things were worked out under certain conditions. There will be no more fighting." he said, his eyes never leaving the road, his hands clutching the steering wheel viciously.

"You know what, fine, I won't ask anymore question for now." I huffed while I crossed my arms over my white shirt. I turned my head to the window and stared at the scenery we were passing by angrily.

I heard my dad sigh. "Lemme just talk to your mom first, and then I'll tell you."

I scoffed loudly and rolled my eyes. There was a drastic change in the scenery from when we first left. When we began this ride, the streets were nice and clean but now, as we're getting closer to our house, the streets got dirtier, the houses got more crammed in, the walls were cracked and the pavement was uneven.

This was where I had lived all my life. This was home, and I was not ashamed of it. I was ashamed of all the litter around here but it's not as if I don't do anything about it, I recycle.

There were skinny little kids playing all over the streets. Bunch of thugs hanging around near the corners or by Liquor stores, people arriving home from work. This was how things went, everyday.

I felt the truck begin to slow down as we arrived home.

Our neighborhood was interesting. Most of this street was filled with people who were part of Las Rosas; this was easier since we didn't really need to hide things. We were cautious, of course, just that we didn't need to worry about someone ratting on us.

My house is nicer than a lot of houses here, thankfully. My mom keeps a huge garden in the front with the help of my dad. Our house was a cream color with a red roof and only one story. It had 3 bedrooms, 1 bathroom and a kitchen and living room. Some people may think that it's not much but to me it is. It is everything to me.

Once I stepped out of the truck I checked both sides of the streets out of habit. When you live where I live, you make sure to check things out before stepping into open space.

I walked across the street to my house and looked over my shoulder. I saw my dad leaning against the truck talking to my uncle Nico. Uncle Nico was not in the business with my father, something I am jealous of.

My father looked very tense. I could see it in his eyes his smoldering anger. His sharp features looked needle-like. The veins around his neck and up his arms were like cracks in the earth; very noticeable. His large hands were balled into fists. His pale cheeks were reddened.

What happened in that meeting? Obviously it didn't turn out well for us. But why didn't it turn out well?

I looked up at the sky and noticed the sun was almost setting. Since it was summer the sun rested later so it's probably around 6. The summer breeze was turning colder.

I looked back over my shoulder, glared and walked straight inside my house.

"Quien es?" I hear my mom's steady voice ask from the kitchen. "Soy yo." I answered back. "Dad's outside talking to Tio Nico."

"Hi Vero!" I hear my little brother say. "Hey, Junior." I answered back as I walked into the kitchen.

I see my my little brother sitting on a chair with a towel wrapped around his front with my mom cutting away at his hair.

My mother was a professional hair stylist. My father bought her a beauty salon as a wedding present and I have worked there for extra cash. Her hands moved expertly around my little brother's hair. There was light brown hair surrounding the chair. My little brother had gone without a hair cut for months. He would have gone longer if it wasn't for my mom waking up one morning and deciding that my brother needed a haircut ASAP.

Good thing too, his hair was looking ho-ri-ble.

I sat down next to the chair my brother was on, facing the living room.

"And…done!" my mother finished with a dust of that puffy thing and took off the old towel which she threw to the trash. My brother looked way nicer and neater. My mom gave him a nice and fine buzz.

Just when my mother was beginning to sweep the hair was when my dad walked in.

He walked into the kitchen and my mother's dark eyes immediately brightened.

"Roberto!"

"Dad!"

"What happened?"

My dad just sat down across from me and said nothing. My mother sensing something wrong sat down immediately.

"Roberto, how did it go?" she asked, her face was pinched in concentration.

"Junior, go to your room and finish your homework." she said when my father hadn't answered yet.

"But I finished it!"

"Double check it, son, so there won't be any mistakes." my father spoke, looking at him steadily.

My brother set his jaw angrily but stomped his way to his room.

My father sighed loudly and raked his hands against his face leaving red marks against his pale skin. He looked really troubled.

My eyes tightened with quickening fear. Was everything worse than I had thought?

My mother did not look scared at all. Her back was straight, her arms were tense, her eyes blazed. She looked like a fighter ready to go.

"Robert…" my mom said softly yet sturdy.

"The meeting went as planned, I suppose. There were certain…negotiations that had to be made and now I am not sure if it was the right thing to do." he said solemnly.

"What negotiations?" my mother asked.

My father looked at me with guilt. "Veronica, can I talk to your mother alone for a minute?"

I sat there stunned. I slowly unhinged myself from my seat and left the kitchen to my room in silence.

My head was swimming with thoughts. I didn't hear my parents conversing. What the hell did he mean by negotiations? And why did he look at me with guilt?

I said as I stood next to my closed bedroom door.

My room was small but neat. The walls were white with the outline orange. I had a long mirror plastered on the wall. My dresser had my clothes neatly hanged. My shoes were lined up in straight lines in my closet. I liked things in place, okay.

I didn't bother to lie down on my bed. I was cut off from my thoughts when I felt my phone vibrate inside my jeans pocket. I checked and noticed I had a text message. It was from my friend, Jessica.

I replied back saying that I was sorta busy with business. She knew what I meant since her dad was also in The Roses. All the friends that I have, which aren't a lot, have at least one person in the gang.

She replied saying that she was sorry for interrupting and that the whole gang said hi. I smiled a bit. How cute.

I would have replied back but I heard my parents calling me back to the kitchen.

I practically ran into the kitchen. My parents looked troubled. My dad looked even more angry and frustrated. My mom's eyes were red.

"I just don't know how you could do something like this." my mother said softly as she sank into her chair.

I raised an eyebrow. "Are you talking to me?" I asked.

My father looked at her angrily. "I had no choice!" he hissed through his teeth.

"You always have a choice, Robert!" my mother said shrilly.

"What did you expect me to do? Huh? What other way was there that didn't involve war?" he asked her as he looked directly at her, both of them completely forgetting me.

"She's our daughter, Rob, our only daughter!" my mother was crying now, she was clawing at her raven brown hair. Holy crap. What did I have to do with this? My mom's crying, why?

"Tell me what happened." I said but I was ignored.

"I know that! This is hurting me too. And I know I made a fucking mistake but I can't take it back! I have to not only take care of us, but I have to take others as well! And if I hadn't taken that offer things would have gone from bad to worse!"

"This is your family we're talking about!"

"DON'T START WITH ME ON THAT! If I had not avoided war I would have been killed and you know what would have happened to my family, they would have been killed right in front of me or worse!"

By this time, they were staring at each other angrily, standing up and facing each other; both of their eyes were red.

"Tell me what happened!" I finally yelled. I was tired of all of this. It has something to do with me, that much is freaking' obvious.

My mother spun around and began to pace back and forth muttering angrily in Spanish.

"Yes, Rob, tell her what happened." she said snippily.

He glared her way and then looked at me. He looked so guilty. From the moment my dad sat down my heart has not stopped beating rapidly.

This is driving me crazy. Why can't they just tell me? It can't be that bad.

"Vero, I did something unforgivable." he started. "I had no right to do what I did but I had to do it because there was no other choice."

"Dad, just get out with it! This is driving me crazy. What do I have to do?" I said.

"In the meeting, Kuckiki and I came into an agreement. We both knew that nothing would have stopped if we just let the word out that we had no problems anymore. We had to have something to back it up. He then offered a proposal. He said his advisors gave him an option which he would now give to me. He said we could both not do anything about this and just say there wasn't any problem-" he would have continued but I cut him off.

"But you guys didn't choose that one, right? If you guys did do that, nothing would have been fixed. They would still hate each other and they would have looked at you both as cowards who did not raise your hands and defended their family."

My father's eyes looked guilty and sad. His face was slumped. "We didn't choose it. But the other option wasn't the best either."

"How could it not have been the best? We stopped the fighting! Anything is worth it when it is to prevent war and murder!"

"Is giving someone away like an animal worth it?" I heard my dad ask me. My mom let out a wrenched sob.

I was taken back. "Huh? Who was given away?"

My father never looked away from me. "The other option was to tie the both us together. We created a bond between us that anyone will respect. I gave you to Byakuya Kuckiki as his future wife."

My entire concentration and thoughts collapsed. It took me long and frozen moments to reattach them together.

I was to marry Byakuya Kuckiki. When this thought erupted onto the surface of my thoughts I was awoken.

"You gave me away?" I asked as I stood up from my chair. My hands grabbing the back of my chair fiercely. My mother stood next to the table, looking back and forth between my father and me.

"Dad! How could you!" I screamed. I was beyond angry. He gave me away? To someone I don't even know? What made me most angry was that I knew that I would have no choice.

"There wasn't a better choice." he said gravely. "How could you possibly bring that option up, though?"

"I didn't! This option was brought up and it seemed like the best."

"MOM! TALK TO YOUR HUSBAND!" I yelled as I turned to my mother.

"I already did, Vero. Even though I don't like it, it seems like there's nothing else we could do." she replied sadly, there were tears dropping down her face.

I looked helplessly at both of them. I knew they were both right but I just couldn't believe it. I couldn't just say no. I wouldn't be able to sleep at night knowing that because of me people were going to die. I hated not having a choice.

"Who is this man?" I finally asked lowly. I knew nothing about him. Was he old? An alcoholic? A druggie?

"He is not much older than you are actually." my father replied. My eyes widened.

"Really? And he's already leader of his mafia?"

My dad nodded. My mother walked up to me and hugged me. "When will all this be arranged?" I asked. My mom just sobbed into my hair while repeating 'My poor baby'.

My dads face was straight. We both knew that there was no other way.

"Kuckiki would like to meet you tomorrow so we'll drive over and prepare everything there. Don't worry; I'll be there with you."

I nodded. I hugged my mom. "Mom, don't cry. It's what I have to do. It's just a small price to pay. I don't hold this against anyone."

She squeezed me and then let go. She whipped her face with the back of her hand and said, "Okay, let me just…make you something to eat. Both of you."

We ate in silence. I was the first one to finish eating and excused myself.

I didn't bother to change out of my clothes, I just kicked off my shoes, turned off the lights and fell onto my bed and curled into a ball.

I felt completely numb. I didn't know what to think of this situation. It didn't matter anyway because there was nothing I could do. I didn't want to think of tomorrow or the future; I just wished this wasn't my life. I wished my dad had a normal job and that none of us had any relations with shady businesses.

I want a normal life.

Most people my age would worry about going to school in a week. They would be hurrying in buying the clothes they needed and their school supplies. They would be worried about finding their classes and that they didn't have to run into the person they hate or their ex-boyfriend or girlfriend.

Not me, I have to worry about getting fucking married to someone I don't know who just happens to be a mafia boss.

Fuck. My. Life.