As a general rule, I preferred not to ask the question 'can it get worse' because the universe might be in the mood to answer and will be a complete darling and provide a detailed explanation of what could go wrong and even drop a few examples.

That's Murphy's Law. Anything that can go wrong, will. Must have been a very optimistic person. Although, at that point I was sure he was still more optimistic than me.

There's something about having a gun pointed between your eyes that can kill your vibe. Or kill you.

Either way there was no denying that I was dead.

A scary calm settled over me and I became numb to all my sensations. It felt like an out of body experience. It happens when you're in shock or stressed. Well, the fact that I could recall that much said that I could still think straight.

There were two men. Both were dressed in black leather. Their skin had a light tan and they had dark hair. That was where the similarities ended.

One of them had blue eyes and the other had hazel. The hazel eyed one looked a lot more menacing with the relatively stronger build and the gun, but the quiet, calm, detatched blue eyed one was the one that truly scared me.

"Who are you?" I feigned innocence. My voice sounded foreign to my ears. I knew exactly who they were. The way they carried themselves, the Mediterranean features gave it all away. And also the minor detail that one of them had a gun.

Blue eyes chuckled, but there was no amusement in his eyes. He looked like he was in his late thirties.

"She's a slow one isn't she? And she looks so small. Is Adrian sure it's her?"

Adrian. I held on to that name. It might come in handy .

The hazel eyed man laughed. "I doubt it, but I'm not planning on questioning the boss anytime soon."

Adrian DeLuca! I read about him in the papers. He was a rumored Mafia Boss of the DeLucas. He graduated business school at eighteen. He was a prodigy. At twenty, he took over the legitimate companies of the DeLucas. There were rumors that he'd taken over the Mafia too. And he was so fucking smart and manipulative that the DeLucas became much, much stronger under his leadership. I certainly respected him, despite never having met him. I'm not entirely sure I wanted to meet him.

I didn't reply.

"Get out of the car." Hazel said.

Don't let them take you to a different location. I had to act and I had to do it now.

I slowly stepped out of the car and suddenly ran down the streets, lockinh them in.

The car unlocked from inside, but I had switched on the child-lock which prevented it. They were trapped in.

Adrenaline fueled my great escape and suddenly I heard gunshots and the sound of glass crashing. I looked behind and I saw them get out of the car, having broken the glass, they were atleast a seventy meters behind me but it wasn't far enough. I'm sure the gun had a longer range.

I screamed in terror. But there was nobody to hear.

I was growing tired. My pace was slowing. Why did I bunk all the gym classes of my life? Please, please, please hold it together. My feet slapped against the concrete of the road and I was running short of breath.

I heard feet pounding on the road.

Hide, you idiot!

It was too late, one of them caught my hair and I yelled in pain. He covered my mouth with his hand and I tried to bite but my teeth couldn't find any purchase. I thrashed around. Kicked, punched, scratched, but nothing worked. The men dragged me to the black car that was parked next to mine. It had no license plate.

"Behave or we'll knock you out." The blue eyed one sneered in my ear.

I stopped struggling. I didn't want to get hit on the head. If I acted like a hero and fought now, I would only get hurt. And I couldn't afford to be hurt when I needed all my bodily functions to escape.

"Good girl." Blue eyes patted me on the head like a dog and I flinched in disgust.

He left me alone after that and sat in the back seat, next to me.

"Wouldn't want you to come up with another stupid plan now would we?"

I ignored him and stared ahead. I needed resources. Till then I could plan.

"I'm Damien and that is Antonio." He said conversationally.

Thanks, wanna tell me your last names too? The police and I would LOVE to know.

"Can you speak?" Damien taunted. Bastard.

"Do you expect me to care?" I sassed.

Antonio chuckled.

Damien smiled. I smiled back but I'm sure it turned out to be more like a snarl.

"You better watch that sass, princess. Adrian might not like it. And that guy is absolutely emotionless. He's the kind of person to point out the horrible grammar of some poor kids suicide note. If he doesn't like you, you're dead."

I scoffed. Adrian DeLuca was sort of like the Loch Ness monster. Everyone knew what he was but nobody had seen him. Everyone knew his name, whispered in the silent, dark alleys of LA. But nobody knew what he looked like.

"I'll be sure to tell the cops that. What did you do to Dylan?"

"Dylan who?" He smirked.

I lost it. I jumped at him and tried to claw his eyes out. He caught my wrists and tightened his grip till I thought my wrists would snap.

"Let go of me!"I yelled.

Damien's eyes held no more traces of amusement as he threw me across the seat to the other end of the car. My wrists were throbbing.

I looked up at Damien and his gaze softened. I realized that I had been crying.

He reached out for my wrists and I snatched my hands back, huddling closer to the window.

"For what it counts, I think you're an innocent girl who was at the wrong place at the wrong time. I never intended to hurt you, and for that I'm sorry. You need to try and convince him that you're innocent somehow, that's your only hope. But don't lie. He will find out and it won't be pretty." He said nonchalantly before turning away and looking out of the window.

The car came to a stop outside a mansion. I had been in the car for nearly two hours. I didn't know which direction LA was from here.

Damien kept his distance and Antonio helped me out. None of us said a word. As we walked on the tiled pathway to the house. The place smelled of money. It made Dylan's house look like a trailer. There was a huge lawn with palm trees. I could hear the waves roaring. We were near the sea. That wasn't much but it was still something.

They led me inside the house. There was no time to run. There were armed guards near the gate.

"Are those weapons even legal?" I murmured under my breath. I didn't have the guts to ask out loud.

Antonio chuckled, "Of course not."

Well, wasn't that just grand.

The interiors were simple and modern. Marble floors and elegant black couches. There was a coffee table with a gun on top of it.

I was led up the black glass stairs to a giant mahogany door. Damien knocked.

"Come in," a soft yet authoritative voice ordered. It was deep and smooth as velvet.

Damien opened the door and I was staring at the most beautiful man I'd ever seen.

He was handsome in a delicate way, not too rugged, not too feminine. His features were sharp, with an aristocratic nose and high cheekbones with a defined jawline. but they had a softness about them that made them so handsome.

His brows were dark and thick, his skin was lightly tanned and wavy dark hair flowed over his forehead. His eyes were a pale grey, like a silver sword, a sea during a storm. I knew that even if I tried my best, mixing that color would be impossible. He looked like a fallen angel.

His body, under his black suit jacket was lean. Not muscular but he was definitely athletic. But it was a mask, a veil over the danger that Adrian DeLuca was. His eyes were inexpressive, calculating, judging. One of the smartest people I would meet and he was standing in front of me, taking me in, sizing me up. I fought to keep my face devoid of emotion. I had a tendency to smile or nervously laugh at inappropriate moments and this was one of them.

He looked at Damien and Antonio.

"Leave us." He said softly.

Damien and Antonio nodded and left the office, leaving me alone with him.