Gifted to the Devil Don-Closed

[Perplexia]

Catalina Russo age 19 was adopted from the St. Marys orphanage at the age of five. She had been there for as long as she knew. She was left on their doorstep as an infant in a wicker basket, and all she had that wasn’t seized by her new family was a rattle and a wooden horse. With an odd engraving on the bottom of it.

Her new family, the Russo’s , pretended to want a playmate for their daughter Olivia. Instead what they were looking for was free labor. She was left in her orphan dress and given a list of chores to complete,every year that she got older, the more was added to her list. She was allowed to go to school, which she took great reprieve in.

Reading was her escape from the beatings, the humiliation and the constant life she had been put in. Her room was a small pantry with a mat and a pillow. When she finished primary school they added more chores to her list.

The Mafia Don Vargo was thought to be disfigured, and a monster. The rumor was that he had murdered his first wife. The reason why seemed to vary. He was rarely seen in public and feared by all who heard his name. He was Evil incarnated so the rumor said, some swore he had a pact with the devil. Others believed he was the devil.

Catalina knew very little about the Mafia or who ruled what. When the order came that the Russo’s had give him their daughter to marriage, they knew they couldn’t object. But the order hadn’t said which. So they decided their precious little Olivia couldn’t be subjected to such a monster. They decided it would be Catalina.

The day arrived and they didn’t even tell her until they were at the church. She had been cleaned , dressed up into a white fancy dress, her copper locks placed in a tight bun, and a thick veil placed on her head. It was then she was told she would marry Vargo. “But I don't know him” she pleaded. For that she got a smack across the face , another red mark to go with her many bruises covered by the long sleeve dress.

“You will do as you're told, if you don’t you will be beaten then thrown on the street.” She nodded as a tear ran down her face. They wiped it away and gave her modest makeup that highlighted her bright green eyes.The veil was placed down and her ‘father’ walked her down the aisle.