Chapter 2

It was the late afternoon sun streaming through the window which woke Viola. She sat up slowly rubbing her eyes and then it all came back. The events of last night. She swallowed her horror momentarily to call Rebecca who assured her that Damian was fine, and he had been properly fed and bathed.

'I am so sorry, Rebecca. I did not mean to oversleep. It was a …. long night.'

'Oh, come now, Aunti-O. date?'

Viola could practically hear her mischievous smirk through the phone and for a moment, a flash of blond hair and even white teeth ran through her mind. She took a deep breath and wondered whether she should tell her about Doffy. It seemed like he was only interested in her for some bizarre reason.

'Mama!'

Her thoughts were interrupted by her son's voice. He resembled his father so much; it would have been undeniable if they stood side-by-side. For a moment, she considered taking her son and running far from the blast of her past.

'How's my baby? Cousin Rebecca taking good care of you?'

'Rebecca's the bestest. We are gonna have ice cream!'

'Just this once. Be good. I love you. And no matter what, stay with your cousin.'

'Yes. Love you too Mama!'

'I'll pick you up in a couple of hours. We can go to the park and feed the ducks.'

'Yaaaayy!'

Viola hung up and smiled at the vibrance of her son's youthfulness. She almost envied it as her past was a far cry from Damian's.

10 years ago….

The streets were full of activity as cars passed by and cats slunk about in alleyways. 19-year-old Viola kept sharp eyes about her as she viewed the area for her next victim. Rebecca was waiting for her. That little girl was all she had left of her family.

(This is a memory within a memory. Sorry to have caused any confusion.)

She took a deep breath and shuddered her tears away as she could still see a house engulfed in flames. Her father, along with her sister and niece, were still in there. The neighbors tried to hold her back as firefighters were trying to douse the flames. One of them came out holding a bundle in his arms which turned out to be Rebecca. She burst forth and grabbed her out of his hands. She was unconscious due to smoke inhalation.

At that moment, flames rose quite high within the house, causing the windows to shatter. Viola screamed in anguish as she hit the ground, realizing that it was too late for her father and sister. Their bodies were recovered at dawn, charred beyond recognition.

She buried them the next day with the help of her college fund. As they had no other relatives willing to take them in, she and Rebecca went into the foster system. Viola could not stay longer as she was already above 18, so she tried to keep an eye on her niece as much as she could.

'Enough! Concentrate on getting your next meal.'

She soon spotted a lone man taking a shortcut through the alley. Stealthily, she went to slip her fingers in the pocket but out of nowhere, her wrist was twisted at an odd angle.

'What do we have here? A little thief?'

The blond, emaciated man looked her disdainfully while she used this moment to land a punch in his gut. He caught her again and this time she was trapped.

'Let me go!'

'Now, why would I do that? Doesn't a night in a jail cell sound nice?'

Viola glared at him while she thought of ways to avoid such a situation. She could scream bloody murder or kick him and run. But on this night, she took a risk very unlike her.

'Please, don't do that. I have someone depending on me.'

The look of desperation on her face made the man let her go slowly. Then he grabbed her arm and soon they came upon a diner. She told him her story while munching on a meal which felt heaven-sent to her. He linked his long, pale fingers and what he spoke of next changed her life.

That night he took her to a sprawling mansion which seemed lively even at this time. He walked into a study along with her in tow.

A man was sitting there deep in thought and started at the noise of the door opening. He switched on a lamp. The first thing she noticed was that he wore sunglasses.

Even from this distance, she could feel an aura of menace which terrified and yet fascinated her. He got up from his desk and walked to them.

She felt his eyes on her and looked up to meet them. If eyes were windows to the soul, then this man must keep them shut all the time. They intrigued her, just like the rest of him. It was a long while before they unlocked gazes; he smirked and turned to his brother.

'Rosinante, welcome back. Where have you been?'

The voice of concern sounded alien on his intimidating stature. He would have looked more at home punishing those who wronged or deceived him.

Viola tuned out the two men as she worried over what she was going to do next. Rosinante seemed genuine in his effort to help but this household had way too much security around for an ordinary businessman.

'This is Viola. She's going to be a new member of our family. Oh, and her niece Rebecca too.'

Rosinante's voice interrupted her musing and she turned around facing the two men. His name was Donquixote Doflamingo and it suited his exotic and extravagant personality. His blond hair fell in unruly spikes as he offered a hand towards her. As she put her hand forward, he gently took her palm and kissed it. The moment they made contact; she felt her fate entwine his. For both their sakes, she hoped it would all work out.

Viola jumped at the sound of the phone ringing. She looked at the screen and dismissed it as a telemarketing call. She stretched and walked over to her closet. She picked out her favorite pair of jeans along with a hoodie. It was time to pick Damian up.

"Mama!"

Damian ran into her arms with all the enthusiasm of a typhoon and she picked him up and cuddled him for quite some time. After a while, he started squirming, so she allowed him to detangle from her grasp and they walked into Rebecca and Cavendish's house. The atmosphere was lively as her pink-haired niece cooked up a storm in the kitchen when her husband came in, the toddlers hanging on to both of his legs.

'Babe, you are the best cook ever, but I beg you, my beautiful savior, please take them!

Viola softly laughed at his melodramatics. She was used to it by now though at one point she did consider punching his lights out. Rebecca went over to rescue him by taking one of them and placed a gentle kiss on his lips. He caressed her cheek and took the spatula to resume cooking.

'Auntio! Just in time!'

Rebecca ambled along, adjusting the two-year-old one her hip. Viola gently hugged her and the baby. They chatted while the little tyke got fed, bathed and finally put to her crib. Damian was busy playing with her nieces boisterous four-year-old so they were able to converse without interruptions.

'Out with it. I know you're chewing over something.'

She took a deep breath and revealed all that had happened, leaving out parts she wanted to keep private, the day before while Rebecca gasped.

'What are we gonna do? We both have lives here.'

Viola ran the previous day's scenarios through her head, and she concluded that he was certainly not here to disrupt her niece's life. She had nothing to do with the 'family business' after all. The only reason Viola managed to get her from the orphanage was because Rocinante helped her with the paperwork while Doflamingo took care of her further education by paying for it.

It certainly was not as simple as it sounded. Viola offered to train as one of the 'executives' in order to keep Rebecca out of this life and to pay him back. She had always known what and who he was, but she did not want her innocent, untainted niece anywhere near the underworld. For a moment, she wondered how her favorite of the family was doing. She had wanted to talk to Rosinante over the years but was afraid of being tracked. She would have loved for Damian to meet his uncle.

'Aunty, does he know about Damian?'

'I don't think so. And let's keep it that way.'

She still had no idea after all these years what it was she felt for that man. She thought she knew him and yet every time she figured something out, he came up with ten more puzzles for her to solve. He had never hurt her, not outside the training/combat room. Thanks to him, she still had her hand-to-hand combat skills, but she never could best him. He was a brutal but efficient teacher. She kept up the practice even now.

She may have run away from that life, but he haunted her with his smiles, inflaming touches and secrecy. Sometimes, at night, she woke up screaming his name. It was quite fortunate Damian was a heavy sleeper.

'What do you think he wants? We never stole any money, just took what was ours.'

'Knowing him, he'll reveal it when he wants to. Poking or prodding won't help. Let's keep our guard up for now.'

'You'll be fine, aunti-o, but you need to be especially careful. I have never seen anyone effect you the way he does. It is scary and fascinating.'

Viola put on a reassuring smile and they continued with dinner. Damian made a spectacle by grabbing mashed potatoes and hurling them at his nephew which meant spending an hour on clean-up duty.

He slept in her arms and woke up just when she unlocked the door to her apartment. She carefully took in the scenarios and breathed a sigh of relief as she detected no presence.

As she fell asleep that night, her last thought was about him.