Chapter Text
Life is hard, that is a fact. The difference is how you deal with the obstacles it imposes.
Nobody is happy or all the time.
Happiness is a moment, as is everything on your journey on earth. However, there are obstacles that, even after being overcome, leave marks. Scars that will remind you of the moment of unhappiness forever.
An island of Palawan was unknown to many, only tourists more committed to finding a local paradise to find in research. It is not a very developed place and does not have a very large population.
It is a great refuge, a shelter for those who want to escape the hustle and bustle of overcrowded capitals
Raquel found on these beaches of white sand and blue sea an escape from her life. The woman, who despite being young in her 26 years, had a painful past that literally haunts her.
A born dreamer, she aimed to join the Madrid police. During his time at the academy he met Lieutenant Alberto, an older man who saw great potential in the girl.
Over time they got involved. Murillo graduated and became an officer, always very hardworking, stood out in her position and soon started to apply for a promotion.
What she didn't expect was that her boyfriend, a police officer with a history within the corporation, was corrupt. Not just any corrupt police officer, but the head of a major drug and women trafficking scheme.
That's when the nightmare started. As the good professional who was wanted to denounce him, however, he was discovered and the threats began. Alberto said he had the power to send her to another country to become a prostitute, kill Marivi, his mother, among many other barbarities.
In one night, without knowing what else to do, completely desperate, Raquel waited for her boyfriend to sleep and killed him.
He cut his throat with a pocket knife, took the money his boyfriend was hiding, as a result of his crimes, took his mother who until then knew nothing, and ran away.
After months of missing, the former police officer contacted her best friend, Angel. He told everything, all the threats, everything he witnessed in those hellish months, but the man could do nothing without proof.
Angel was the only person in her old life with whom Raquel kept in touch by brief calls using an old cell phone so she wouldn't be tracked.
Through these calls, she learned that the rest of the group that was part of the big dirty scheme was after her, the woman who killed the boss and took her bread.
All this trauma left a mark. The young woman no longer considered herself capable of loving and trusting another man. Murillo was involved with men for one night and nothing more, started to relate to women too, but never for more than one night.
Raquel was sensual, she drew attention to where she was and she knew it. Her beauty is exotic and mysterious, her piercing and tattoos make her more attractive to her targets. She knows the power she has and uses it.
Its code name was Lisbon, because it is remarkable as the Portuguese capital. Who knows does not forget it.
[...]
Sérgio, an intellectual economics student, who looks from the outside looks like a simple shy and hard-working boy. What no one imagines is that behind all intelligence there is a strategist man who, with the help of his father and older brother, devised a great theft.
The biggest theft that Spain has ever seen.
Coming from a family that was not favored by the capitalist system, the Marquinas spent few and good times. Julio Marquina, a simple merchant, found himself in debt after his wife died of a rare degenerative disease.
With two young children to raise, he saw no other solution than crime. It started with small thefts in markets and pharmacies, it was improving and practicing bigger robberies.
When he found out that his eldest son, Andrés, had the same illness as his mother, he set about planning the biggest assault he could. One that would make him have enough money to pay for treatment and give the three of them a good life.
That's where the big idea came from.
After months of escape, the three chose Palawan as their permanent home. A place little known and worthy of a well deserved rest for the family of thieves.
Andrés was the first to have contact with the beautiful woman. It was one night, in a bar in the city center. He saw her in a devastating dress and a provocative attitude, he realized that she was looking at the place with a lioness looking for prey.
The man, like the good womanizer he was, went on the attack and approached Rachel.
- Can I be your company tonight?
She smirked, looked him up and down. He stirred his drink with the straw.
- I think not.
Andrés smiled, already used to the refusal at first.
- Let me show you that I can make your night worthwhile.
- Oh ... it will be worth it but not because of you
She winked at him, biting her bottom lip, she smiled and went to the dance floor. The man was unresponsive to what happened and soon afterwards lost sight of her.
However, as the codename already left a mark, Lisbon was hard to forget when he met her.
- Man I think I met the sexiest woman of my life.
- Don't you say that at all?
Sergio was almost the opposite of his brother. While Andres loved to go out, enjoy the night and all the opportunities it offers him, the youngest preferred the comfort of his home with a good book.
This reflected in his appearance. Seriously tall and thin, his body is slightly defined because of his boxer and karate workouts. For him a healthy mind requires a healthy body. All of this is involved in a certain shyness, lack of social tact and extraordinary intelligence.
The man dedicated his life to helping his father and brother with the planning of the great robbery they would do and he worked so hard that he forgot to live. The years of poverty made him crave the comfort of not having to think about money again, of not having to worry about having food on the table the next day.
Today Sérgio is not comfortable with the kind of fun Andrés loves, for him a good book and the comfort of his chair is the perfect day.
- Brother this is different. Really.
He was very serious and anxious.
- Beautiful, sexy… wow. I only exchanged two sentences with her!
Sergio laughed, shaking his head.
- If I see you around I'll pass your number.
He joked. Andrés snorted and tousled his hair and went to his room. The youngest never understood how his brother could create passions so overwhelming for women he just met. If it weren't for his father putting judgment on his head he would already have some divorces on the account.
It was on a sunny morning that Sérgio decided to explore the beach that was practically his backyard. The island was very pristine, its wildlife is abundant as well as its forests. Something totally new for someone born and raised in a big city.
He walked aimlessly paying attention to every detail. The sea was calm at that time so its sound was relaxing but it was broken by the galloping noise of horse hooves. He searched the dense forest thinking he was perhaps a wild animal, but he was surprised by a beautiful woman riding.
- You are lost?
The frown revealed his real concern for the man he had never seen around.
Raquel was used to walking around those sides of the island, she already knew the forest and knew the types of animals she could find. His horse, Dunker, a beautiful black specimen, was his faithful companion on walks. Every morning the two went out to run and relax, only then would their day really start. Sometimes she liked to stop for a swim and that was one of those times.
Mounted on the huge animal with only a pair of jeans and a bikini, that's how Sérgio met her and knew at the time that it could only be the woman his brother met.
- Hey. Do you understand what I mean?
He asked again after there was no answer. The man looked at her dumbly and without reaction, he started to think that it was some tourist who had an accident.
- Ah… yes. I understand you.
He came to himself as he tried to hide his embarrassment by fixing his glasses.
- I'm not lost. I live here for a short time and wanted to explore.
Shrugs.
- You don't have an accent, are you from Spain?
- Yes, from San Sebastian.
Sérgio smiles slightly and finally looks at her again. The mysterious woman looks at him suspiciously and comes closer to him, still riding.
- Why are you here?
Hard question. There is little care, it is not every day that a Spaniard decides to live in a place like that. What are the chances of someone being behind her?
- As I said, I live here. I moved in a few weeks ago.
He shrugs, pointing in the direction he came from.
- You don't look like a native. It's European, right?
Raquel analyzes it thinking whether or not she can tell the truth. He seemed harmless enough, but there is little care.
- Yes, I'm from Madrid.
Sergio smiled and agreed happily to have guessed correctly.
- My name is Sérgio.
It says to see the woman getting off the horse. She ties it to a tree that is full of grass around it.
- You can call me Lisbon.
Smile. Sérgio thinks he has never seen a more beautiful and sweet smile, which is in stark contrast to the sensuality he exudes from her. Now standing in front of him he can see that she is not that tall, but her body is thin and defined. The large tattoo on the right side of his hip draws attention, it is possible to see that they are flowers, peonies to be exact. There's another one on his left rib, a feather or leaf, he couldn't see it right. He was ashamed of being caught looking at the body of a stranger.
- How long have you lived here?
- Some time…
She is evasive and smirks.
- I suggest you do not walk alone in the woods at night, there are some cats here.
- No, no. I'm not that adventurous.
The two laugh at his comment.
- I live a few meters from here.
He points to his back. She agrees.
- Do you want company for exploration?
- I think your knowledge will be very valuable.
Sérgio talks adjusting his glasses while smiling shyly. Raquel was no longer used to this, interacting with a person without having a sexual interest, both on her and his part. She found him nice and kind so she decided to talk.
That was their first contact. Two people with dark and difficult pasts who were welcomed by the paradise that island offered