"my dear, we are slow dancing in a burning room."

• • •

I thought Friday would never come, it's the only day I have no classes and hoped I would finally have time to myself. Somehow I forgot that Mr. Ricci's having some sort of charity gala. Not only did my mom guilt me into coming because she had to but so did Jacob, they teamed up on me and don't even know it.

I adjust the thin straps on my long black dress in Jacob's bedroom mirror. I can feel him staring at me but I avoid any sudden movements, I feel like a gazelle trying to camouflage into its surroundings so it won't be eaten alive. But I guess that outcome wouldn't be as bad for me. I've been thinking about what Mya said earlier this week, maybe I should be more transparent. I just don't know how to bring it up, like how do you even start that conversation.

"I know for a fact your dad taught you staring is rude." I joke as he stands.

I feel his large hand on my shoulder. "I wish I could tear this dress off," his fingers softly trace down my arms, "...but we don't have time." He kisses my jaw then turns around to grab his black suit jacket off the bed.

I follow behind him grabbing my purse on the way out. He turns the elevator off so that no one can come up and we take the stairs down. He opens the passenger door for me and once he gets in we head to the gala.

"We can't walk in together." I say fixing my mascara in the sun visor mirror.

"Why? It's not hard to believe that we arrived at the same time?" His hand finds its way to my leg though his eyes never leave the road.

"Maybe, but if we do you can't walk close to me." A smile creeps into his face.

"But I can hardly keep my hands off you. I think your friend picked out the tightest dress in the store." I look down at my dress, it isn't that tight. His hand sliding higher up my thigh doesn't go unnoticed.

"It's not even that tight, just flattering." The expression on his face screams 'keep telling yourself that', I roll my eyes and focus my attention forward.

We arrive at the hotel while the September sun sets. The line of cars going into the hotel wraps around the street. Jacob goes through the workers entrance despite my objections, but we do beat the traffic. I don't spot my mom's car but I know she's here, I scan the parking lot before we get out of the car.

We are greeted by a man in a tuxedo while walking into the large banquet hall. The lights in the room are almost blindingly bright with a large crystal chandelier in the middle of the ceiling. There's an arrangement of white flowers on every clear table, surrounded by white chairs. Name cards are at every table and I know that means I'll be standing with the caterers in the back of the room.

"Jacob!" We hear from behind us and I recognize Mr. Ricci's voice before even turning around. "...and Daisy?" He tries to hide the confusion in his face and shakes my hand.

"My mom invited me," I clarify, "Have you seen her by the way?" Mr. Ricci nods in understanding and scratches the grey stubble on his face.

"She stepped outside a while ago, but I'm sure she's around here somewhere." He smiles.

"I'm going to find alcohol." Jacob interrupts, secretly grabbing my butt as he walks away. I hide the smile that's desperately trying to find its way to my face. I can't even say anything because Mr. Ricci is still standing in front of me.

"Antonio!" Says a deep voice walking towards us, when I look over I see the man from the casino. His jet black hair is styled neatly this time, the look of mischief in his eyes is almost hard to miss. Mr. Ricci tightly clenches his jaw at the sight of him, if this were a cartoon steam would probably be shooting out of his ears right now. He aggressively puts his hand on the mafia man's shoulder and walks them out the door.

I wish I could hear what Mr. Ricci was saying because that whole interaction has a million questions running through my mind. Is he involved in all of this? How does this man know him? Why was he so angry with him? Was he invited? How come the more I look around I recognize a few more people from the casino, and some of Jacob's friends from his party? At this point I know I won't get any answers right now and just want to know where my mom is.

"We'll be getting started in a moment." A woman with a thick Jersey accent says into the microphone on the podium.

I walk to the back room where I see the caterers coming out of and finally spot my mom pacing back and forth, while reading from some paper. I make my way around the chaos and stop her pacing. "I have been looking everywhere for you?" Not really but she doesn't know that.

"When did you get here? You look so beautiful," She twirls my straightened hair in her hands, "There's some investors here, I'm gonna try to talk to them. I wrote down all this shit I want to say but I don't even think it sounds good." She's silent for a moment. "I wish your dad was here, he always knew what to say." She smiles but I can see the hurt in her eyes, hear it in her voice.

"Listen, you are the smartest, strongest, most determined person I know! Ok? And if you can still scare the shi- hell out of me with one look, you can win over these people with less probably." I tell her. She grabs my face with her hands and looks at me as if she wants to cry.

"You are truly the one thing in this world that keeps me going." She hugs me then walks out of the room after taking some deep breaths. I follow behind her after stealing some hors d'oeuvres from the waiters.

I've been through every social media app I have on my phone at least 5 times, I'm never letting anyone talk me into coming to something this boring again. This whole thing is just rich people patting each other on the back for donating money they're just gonna write off on their taxes anyways.

It's just turned into social hour now, my mom has been fake laughing with the potential investors for like an hour now. The only good thing to come out of my time wasted is Jacob sneaking me drinks when no one was looking. I get up to find Jacob and tell him that I want to leave, I find him at a table talking to his friends.

"Daisy, right?" Says the man from the casino before I get a chance to walk over to the table, I should really find out what his name is. He looks down at me, extending his hand for me to shake. My mother raised me with manners but there is something so sinister yet familiar about this man and I can't put my finger on it, it makes my body go rigid every time. When I finally snap out of it and begin to reach for his hand, his phone rings. He sticks up one finger, chuckling at my discomfort, and steps out to answer it.

Finally remembering where I was headed, I walked over to Jacob's table. Just as I put my hand on him, at least a quarter of the phones in the gala light up. They all stand up immediately, trying to leave calmly but walking as if they just found out there was a bomb in the building. Something's clearly wrong, which worries me. Jacob stands heading for the door with everyone else but I grab his arm. Behind Jacob I see Mr. Ricci walking straight towards us, I can see the concern on his face from here.

"Look I know you wanna keep me out of all of this shit but can you please, please just tell me where you're going?" He looks around the room, an annoyed and anxious look falls over his face. Which only makes me more nervous, I've never seen him this antsy. Anxiety starts to build in my body as I await his answer.

"My boss is dead."

• • •