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July 1988 was a typical hot summer in Brooklyn, New York. Kids littered the streets and played in the fire hydrants while the mother's sat in lawn chairs and gossiped about the new family on Clinton Street.
The Castellano family had just moved into a two bedroom duplex in Brooklyn Heights and were the topic of all the neighborhood gossip from the moment people knew of their arrival. Paul Castellano Jr. was the son of the head of the Gambino Crime Family, Paul "Big Paul" Castellano. While Paul Jr. kept things about the family business quiet, there was always talk that he was involved in some way. He wasn't as involved as people would have thought, but he knew about most of the activity that his father had been involved in.
They had been in Brooklyn for two weeks and Juliet Castellano was nine months pregnant with her first child. It was July 10th and she had just come in from a walk to the grocery store in ninety degree heat. Paul Jr. had been out when he got a call from his father that he needed him for something important. Sure that Juliet would be fine, he left. Juliet was busy putting away groceries and she went into labor. She quickly called her husband at her father's house, but he was out with his father. Off to Long Island for some "business" is what she was told. She left their place and walked back to the grocery store for help, being the closest thing to their apartment building and still not knowing anybody in Brooklyn who would have helped her.
An ambulance was called quickly for the 22 year old, mother-to-be, and she was on her way to the hospital to give birth to her first baby without the support of her husband. She knew that he was helping his father with something illegal and it pained her greatly that because of his family's business, he would miss the birth of his daughter.
The hospital tried getting in contact with Paul Jr., but they were unsuccessful and Juliet was on her own with a room full of people she didn't know, giving birth to her baby without the support she really needed. And she never forgave him for that, but she moved on for her daughter's sake.
Destiny Isabella Castellano was an instant star to her parents. They were overjoyed by their perfect little girl, the little girl that Juliet had always wanted. The little girl that she vowed would never have any involvement in the family business.
And she, pretty much, got her wish when Big Paul was murdered on December 16th, 1990, when he and Thomas Billoti, his chauffeur and bodyguard, were heading for a meeting with capo Frank DeCicco at the Sparks Steak House on East 46th Street in Manhattan. They were gunned down by four unidentified men in the middle of rush hour, the four men, it was later discovered, were hired by John Gotti, who was next in line to take over the Gambino crime family. And take over he did, from 1990 until his 2002 death in prison.
Destiny was only two years old when her grandfather was killed and didn't really get to know him as well as a little girl should get to know her grandfather. Her father was very upset over his father's death, but still worked under Gotti.
Destiny had a great childhood, never wanting for anything. She wasn't like most little girls who got everything they could have ever wanted and then some. She was sweet and kind and played with all the children on the block. When she started school she was an honor roll student and always put school ahead of everything else. She took ballet on the weekends with her friends until she was in the fourth grade and school started to become far more important than "prancing around in tights and a tutu".
In junior high the sweet girl seemed to have vanished, sure she was sweet to her family and close friends, but she quickly tapped into her temper and slightly bitchy attitude. It was then that she preferred to be called Bella, insted of Destiny. She didn't mind being called Destiny, but she thought her middle name fit her better. She kept her grades up and became involved in many after school activities. Her relationship with her parents was always solid and around the time she was to enter high school, she started to figure out just what it was her father did as a "job". She never did question where all the money came from before, but when she started learning about jobs and such in school; she didn't think it was possible for a "bussniness man" to have so much money always coming in. And the fact that her father would never tell her what kind of business he was in.
Bella kept the fact that she knew about what her father was into to herself, she would figure out just what to do with the info she had acquired once she was out of high school. Her father didn't approve of the schools in New York and sent her overseas to a private school in the South of France. Her first year of high school she met her, soon to be, best friend Benjamin Kerr. She met him while attending a private school in the South of France. She was a junior and spent her time away from New York City studying. Ben was just like her, in that they both seemed to have the same ambitions and the same attitudes towards life. As soon as they became friends, Bella knew they would be in eachother's life forever. The two were inseparable, even though Ben lived in England and Bella attended school in France. They spent every free minute they had together. Ben would go see her in France and Bella would go see him in England.
Bella graduated high school in the top percentile of her class and soon got accepted to a college not far from the private school she had spent three years attending. She moved into an apartment in Cannes that her father paid for while she was attending classes. She continued her friendship with Ben and the two were an unstoppable pair. They would play games with other's feelings just for their own pleasure. They pretty much got off on having people fall for them and then crushing them. She never let herself fall for any of the guys she would play with. She knew feelings always fucked things up.
Six months into college, on her way to a party. A modeling agent stopped her on the street and asked her if she was doing any modeling. Bella quickly gave the agent her attitude and told the man to "fuck off" and that she wasn't interested in being a model. He forced his card into her hand and told her to consider it. She placed the card in her jacket pocket and went on with her night.
Two weeks later when she was on her last nerve with the people and classes of the school she was in, she found the card in her pocket. She had been without Ben for a few months after he had moved with his family to New York and she knew that taking that modeling job would take her to New York City. After a bit of consideration, she called the number on the card. The man gave her the details that were needed and she went to take some test shots at a local studio. She waited a long while before she heard anything about the shots she had taken. When she did hear something it was all local modeling, which made it easy for her to drop out of college. She kept it from her parents for as long as she could, but that didn’t last long. Soon the school had sent back one of her father’s checks that he had written as a donation to the school. Bella didn’t go there anymore, so there was no need for his money.
Her parents weren't pleased with this, but they soon got over it when they started seeing the bit of success that their daughter seemed to be getting. Bella wasn’t an overnight success as a model. She didn’t even really like it much, but it was something for her to do instead of being stuck in classes.
Bella continued modeling and living the life in France. Now, at the age of 21, she was sick of France and wanted to be back in New York. She missed her best friend and her family. So she told her agent about her choice to relocate back home. He wasn't all that happy about it and quit as her agent. It didn't bother her, she knew she would have no problem getting another back in New York City, if she even chose to get back into the modeling..
Bella was excited about the chance to finally get back to New York City. She loves being in France, but she missed behing in the states. She booked her plane ticket a month before she was even due in the city. She didn't want to tell anybody, not her parents and not Ben. She wanted her arrival to be a surprise.
That brings us to the current day. She's just arrived back in New York City and has only been to see her family. Her Ben has no idea that she's even back in town and she plans on keeping it that way until just the right moment. She wants to fall right back into step with him. Play their wicked games and just make other's lives miserable. Sure it's a cruel way to think, but as long as they have eachother, nothing else matters.
Bella's father, as soon as he saw his little girl was back in New York, was quick to offer to get her a place all her own. She had told him that she knew all about what he did and he was happy he didn't have to keep that from her anymore. He made a few calls and got her a luxurious one bedroom apartment in Manhattan. She had thought about contacting Elite Modeling agency, but she still wasn't all that sure if she wanted to continue the modeling. The only thing she cared about was finding Ben.
But that soon changed when she did find Ben. Things had been great, she was back in New York with her best friend and nothing would split them up. She was wrong. Ben was involved with a few people and Destiny found herself jealous and she soon thought she was in love with Ben. Having never felt that way about anybody before, she quickly told her best friend. What she got from him was a rejection and Ben ended up running off with a man that he had been engaged to.
She found herself wanting to leave New York City. Without Ben, what was her reason for being there? Her family, yes, but they could only give her so much. Then she met Charlie and her world, as she knew it, would change for the better. From the first conversation the two had, to their first meeting, and beyond that, the two were joined at the hip. She wanted to spend time with him and he wanted to spend time with her. It had taken one meeting for her to fall in love with Charlie's son, Logan, and she knew that the two would be in her life forever.
Charlie and Destiny are legally married, but haven't had a wedding yet. And they're living in Charlie's two bedroom apartment in Manhattan.
Bella at a Glance:
*Name: Born Destiny Isabelle "Bella" Castellano.
*Birthday: Born July 10th, 1988 in Brooklyn, New York.
*Location: Manhattan by way of the South of France.
*Job: Unemployed until she finds something she’ll enjoy.
*Personality: Can come off as a bit of a bitch, and she is, until she gets to know somebody. She's not really mean to people's face, but if you catch her on a bad day, she'll have no problem making you feel like a piece of dog shit on the bottom of one of her Louboutins.
*She’s very much into art and music.
*She labels herself as straight, even though she has been with another woman, just not in a relationship.
*She's never been in love and wont allow herself to fall in love. She thinks it causes way too many problems.
*She loves to travel and has been to Italy many times, as well as France, Africa, United Kingdom, China, Japan, Tahiti, South America, and many places in the US.
*She is very close to her mother and father and the rest of her family, which is considerably large.
*She's 100% Italian.
*She loves to cook.
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