I groan as I storm out of the crowded restaurant. Another failed date with another useless man. I don't even know why I put myself through this anymore.

I'm too young for this stress.

In the past three months I've been on eight dates and they have all ended badly. These men really know how to rub a girl the wrong way.

Finding companionship shouldn't be this hard, but here I am, struggling!

I should've just stayed at home tonight and watched every Harry Potter movie ever made, again, just because I can.

Wasting my time on men has finally annoyed me and I'm officially done. I'm no longer going to try and find my soulmate. If my soulmate wants me, he will track me down and show me some needed love.

Till that day comes – and it better be soon because I'm bored – my couch and fluffy blankets are my cuddle buddies.

"Nyx!" My lousy date shouts, completely mispronouncing my name, as he follows me out of the restaurant.

I just caused a scene in there so I'm definitely not going back to that restaurant for the next month or two.

"Nyx!" He shouts again and this time I stop walking.

I turn around as I fold my arms and tap my left foot to show him how angry I am. "What do you want, Garret?" I spit as he stands in front of me.

He's a tall guy but I don't have to lift my head up to look him in the eye. Such a turn off.

He sighs and smiles at me, his smile crooked and ugly. Does he think he looks good this way? "Oh come on, don't be like this," he says in a soft tone and I roll my eyes.

This moron just asked me to crawl underneath the table and give him a blowjob. Like, who does that?

"I really need to get home," I say as I turn around. I'd rather go to bed with the thought of not getting a second date than getting down on my knees for a moron like him.

He grabs my forearm and yanks me back so my ass presses against his crotch. "Let go," I grit while smacking his hand.

He keeps his filthy hand wrapped around my forearm and leans closer to my face. "You are being such a brat," he tries to sound seductive but fails miserably.

I smirk at what he's trying to do. If he thinks trying to be some big baddie is going to make me do what he wants, he is surely wrong. "I should punish you," he whispers as his chapped lips brush against my ear.

My body shudders but I burst out laughing at his attempt to make my knees weak. "You suck at sounding hot, man," I laugh while shoving him to the side.

Garret let's go of my forearm and takes a step back, shocked that I just pushed him like that. "Goodbye," I say and start walking away from him.

Now I have to walk back to my apartment because he drove us here. And in these shoes, I'm not going to make it back in one piece, plus I'm too cheap to hail down a cab.

I know the fastest route back to my place but the lights don't work properly on the street so that might not be a good idea, yet again, I'm in a rush to get out of this dress and into my sheets.

Tonight is oddly quiet and I don't like it. I can hear the dripping of dirty water from the leaky pipes of the apartment buildings around me. The sounds of police sirens ringing in the far distance are more vivid and I think I just heard the ringing sound of a gunshot.

This city is definitely not safe and this part of the town is definitely not safe for a girl like me. I'm small and any drunk, or even sober, guy would think I'm easy pickings because of my stature.

I turn down into the dark alleway, my mind telling me to turn around and walk in the light but that means I have to take the long way home.

Everyone knows, based off hundreds of movies, the worst things happen late at night in a dark alleway, but I'm trying my luck tonight so fingers crossed nothing happens to me.

My heels click against the cemented ground and I can hear myself breathe. I'm scared, but I'm not turning around. I can see the dim street lights at the end of the alleway getting closer so I can't turn around now.

I move my feet faster across the uneven ground and sooner rather than later, I make it out of the alleyway, unscathed.

I grin victoriously and keep walking down the dimly lit sidewalk. The apartments on this side of the city are literally falling apart and unfortunately, I live in an apartment complex that's on the brink of falling to the ground.

Money shouldn't be a problem for me because I'm the daughter – actually adopted daughter – of Marcus Manson, big time business tycoon and millionaire.

My father loves me and I actually mean it when I say the old man loves me, but my fucking adopted mother is a bitch. She has never liked me, I could see it in the way she looked at me whenever I came home from school or anywhere in general.

She always thought I was getting up to no good but in reality, her actual daughter, Jessica, was the one doing drugs and the entire football team back in high school.

I moved out of the mansion when I was sixteen when I got early admission to MIT. I still think my father pulled a couple of strings to get me accepted so early.

He keeps denying my accusation and says that I'm just so good at coding and whatnot that they noticed my gift and wanted me at their school as quick as possible.

What a bunch of tosh.

I finished studying earlier than predicted – guess I'm a computer whizz – when I turned eighteen, I came back home but started to live on my own. My father was against it in the beginning but he grew to live with it.

It's been a year since I started livkg on my own and it's not that bad, but I'll still love some human interaction every now and then.

My father is constantly checking up on me and he sends me a monthly allowance, a very generous monthly allowance. I don't use all of it though.

I'm saving most of the money for something big, I don't know what it is yet, but I'll know when I have enough money.

I'm supposed to go see him tomorrow at his office so I can't wait for that. I haven't seen him in a while and we haven't talked because he's so busy making money.

The street lights become brighter as I get closer to my apartment, kind of. I'm still quite the distance from home but I'm getting there, little by little.

I turn the corner of what's probably the most stable building on this street and look around to see if anyone creepy is lurking within the shadows.

"Stop." I immediately follow the command and slowly turn my head to where the voice came from. "Where are you going?" A man dressed in a clean, navy blue suits asks. He has a gun in his left hand.

I fear that he's going to use that on me.

"Home, I live a couple of blocks away," I answer, my feet stuck to the ground. I'm too scared to run because he can easily shoot me in the back of the head if I try to.

Another man steps out of the shadows and my eyes widen. His gun is bigger and I know it carries more rounds so if I do run, I definitely won't survive. "We can escort back, just to make sure you are safe," the with the big gun says and I shake my head.

They are the last people on earth I should trust with walking me back home.

"Oh, why not?" The man in the navy suit asks with a slight pout. He finds this amusing while I find it terrifying. "We just want to make sure that a bellezza nera like you gets home in one piece," he says with a smirk.

Did he just speak Italian?

Yes...

You know what that means right?

Yep, he is probably here.

And just as I finish my conversation with my brain, a man steps out of the shadows. On his cheek is a splatter of blood and I bet you all of my monthly allowance, that blood belongs to some guy who crossed him.

"Who is this?" He asks the two men and they both smile before turning to look at him.

His dark eyes stay on me and I try to look anywhere but at his face. This man is hot. I can feel his intense gaze burning through my forehead and it's making me uncomfortable.

"We didn't get to ask her name yet," the man in the navy suit says. He turns to look at me again and smiles widely. "What's your name?" He asks and the man with the big gun lifts a questioning brow.

"Nyx... I'm Nyx Manson," I answer, nervously.

"What a unique name," the man with the big gun laughs and it sends chills down my spine. "So Nyx, what will it be? Are we going to take you home or what?"

These three don't look like they take no for an answer so I think it's best that I just agree and hope that they don't kill me.

"Sure," I say and they smile, except for the man in the middle.

I'm totally fucked.

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bellezza nera = black beauty.

If there's any mistakes, point em out in the comments!

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Vote & Comment.

xoxo.

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