5

Raul's POV

We're now outside the police station, and now that we're here, it feels more real than before. The fact that I have a daughter becomes more real, and I couldn't help but feel nervous.

What if she doesn't like me? What if she tells me she doesn't want to be with us? I couldn't help but feel the nervousness that settled in me. I took a deep breath and looked at the building that had my daughter and the fact that she was waiting for me to come and take her home. I looked at Barry one last time and nodded at him. He nodded back, and with that, we went inside.

We took powerful strides inside. We had our blank faces on, and immediately the once noisy station was now dead silent. You could hear a pin drop from how silent it was. We were greeted by a young officer who looked to be in his early twenties. Once he looked at us, recognition flashed through his eyes and his breathing quickened. It's not every day you have a mafia don in a police station. Then, He led us to a small office that seemed smaller with me and Barry in it due to our muscular and extreme builds. He led us to another young officer who explained the details and papers so that I could take Belle's guardianship.

I signed all necessary papers, and I now have full guardianship over my daughter. Once everything was finalised, he told me that Belle was sleeping in the other room and then proceeded to go and wake her up. He then came back with Belle behind him, and it looked like she didn't notice it. She was staring at the floor, and it looked like she was deep in thought with how she had a small cute frown on her face and a small pout on her lips, which, I add, looked absolutely adorable.

The officer then called her name and that we'd arrived; she looked up, and immediately her blue-green eyes made contact with Barry's blue ones. I watched as he looked at her softly and how he had tears in his eyes. I looked at my princess and went towards her.

Jessica'S POV

My father is here. He's really here; I'm so nervous. What if he doesn't like it? What if he hurts me like they did? What if he sends me to another orphanage once we reach New York? My thoughts were soon cut off by a pair of strong, muscly arms wrapping around me, and my nostrils were filled with a manly cologne that smelt and screamed 'rich'.

Once I came back to my senses and realised I was trapped, I felt my body tense, and I stood there frozen. But a couple of seconds later, my body relaxed, and I melted into that person's embrace. I don't know why, but I felt safe in that person's arms, like nothing in the world would hurt me. I have never felt like this before. I wrapped my skinny and bony arms around the man, and my body relaxed. A few minutes later we both let go; I looked up to see who that unknown man was.

I saw a tall man that looked old and young at the same time. He looked like he was 5o years old. He had light, dark stubble, and he had brunette hair that looked exactly like mine. It was gelled back, and not a hair was out of place; his eyebrows were plucked and arched perfectly, the kind that made women envy their eyebrows. He had small wrinkles around his eyes that you wouldn't notice unless you were looking closely. His jawline looked sharp and defined. And he was extremely muscular, and the Armani suit looked like it would tear any second at any sudden movements. And he's tall; my guess is that he's 6'8. He could crush me with his pinky. I would have to look up at him and crane my neck up. Ugh, he looks like he could eat me with my 5'2 height. He then spoke.

"Hi, Principessa. I'm your father, Raul Rodriguez."

He spoke softly; if he spoke any louder, I would break.

"Hi, it's nice to meet you," I spoke, smiling shyly but never making eye contact with him, just looking at the collar of his Armani shirt. I don't want to make him mad when I don't know his intentions yet.

He seems confused as to why I'm not looking him in the eye but chooses not to comment on it, which makes me sigh a sigh of relief. He then spoke again. "It's nice to meet you too, princess. I'm sorry I didn't know about you earlier." He said softly. But what does he mean he didn't know about me? I didn't have time to linger on the thought because he spoke again. "I want to introduce you to someone, princess." He then gestured to the other man who looked like him and seemed to be 6'6" in height. "Princess, this is your second oldest brother; introduce yourself, son." He said, nodding his head.

"Hi Bambina, "I'm Barry; it's so good to finally meet you," spoke Barry softly, and then he brought his arms out. Out of instinct, I flinched lightly, which didn't look like it went unnoticed by them, but thankfully they didn't comment on it. He then proceeded to hug me, and I immediately responded to the hug. I felt so safe in their arms, like nothing could hurt me.

I felt something wet on my shoulder. I looked and saw Barry crying; I pulled away and brought his face closer to me. I wiped his tears with the pads of my thumbs; he then brought his hands and put them on top of mine and kissed the palms of my hands. I then whispered softly, "Why are you crying?" He wrapped his arms around my waist and brought me in for another hug. I bit my lip to stop myself from screaming in pain. He kept hugging me tightly and buried his face in my neck. He then whispered, "I'm so happy to have you in my life, sorella." I was happy that someone would actually care for me. Maybe I can have a new start. I understood what he meant because I'm fluent in a lot of languages.

After a couple of minutes, he let go and wiped his tears. Then my 'father' asked, "Are you ready to go, sweetheart?" I replied, "Yes, I am," but then Barry asked, "Where's your stuff, bambina?" I pointed to my backpack and said, "This is all I have." I whispered, looking at the floor. I saw Raul and Barry sharing a look. It's like they're communicating through their eyes. Then Raul finally said, "It's okay, darling, let's get going now." He told me with a small smile on his face, and I couldn't help but give him one back.

We made our way out of the police station and into a beautiful car. I stood there gawking at the metal of the hunk. "You like it?" Asked Barry with a soft chuckle. "Are you kidding me?! I love cars!!" I replied happily. Then Raul said, "Looks like we have another Pedro," he said with a small laugh.

Wait, who's Pedro? They both looked at my confused face, and then Raul told me, "Don't worry; you will meet him later." I just nodded my head, and soon enough we were on our way to the airport.

Instead of driving on the normal route, Barry went towards the private plane. I sat there confused until we reached a matte black plane. Barry stopped and came and opened my door. I thanked him shyly, and he just gave me a small smile. I then turned to Raul and asked him, "Why are we here? Aren't we supposed to go that way?" I questioned him and pointed to the normal route.

He laughed softly and said, "No, baby, we have a private plane." I stood there looking like a fish out of water, opening and closing my mouth trying to say something. He came and raised his hand, and I, out of instinct, flinched. His hand stopped midway, and he looked at me in concern and confusion. I gave him a tight-lipped smile, and he gave a soft one back.

"Come on, guys, let's get going." Said Barry. Thank god he came and saved the tense silence. I noticed there were a lot of guards, but I kept my mouth shut. We soon boarded the plane and were on our way to New York.

I hope this is a fresh start for me. Because if it isn't, I don't know what I'll do and what will happen.