Sometimes the tears roll down my eyes without any warning. I swear I'm strong, but the pain my heart carries is too much. My soul keeps fighting, and I'm afraid it'll fight itself in the end.

~

My eyes follow the gorgeous woman that was in front of me seconds ago, her beautiful long legs leading her out of the hall.

Her beautiful scent has filled the entire hall. It has spread like a wildfire; intoxicating me in the process.

I can still feel her presence. My mind keeps giving me flashbacks of our closeness.

The thought of her body, that was close to mine minutes ago, makes me excited.

Her body against mine made me feel like a little body that just received candy.

I felt an attraction when I looked into her mysterious, yet fierce eyes.

Her eyes were telling me to not mess with her. To dare her to use her gun.

I could tell that she felt the attraction too, which makes me want to see her again. To see the same look in her eyes again.

I want to follow her, to pull her close to my body once more, to hold her like she is a precious valuable jewel; that was created only for me.

And I almost do, but I am stopped before I can even take a step in her direction.

"Azrael, we've been waiting for you... Come in already," Seth hisses, plead in his voice as his eyes look inside the conference room.

I can see his adam apple move as he swallows in nervousness.

I chuckle when I realize that he is afraid; do I blame him for being afraid? No.

The people that are seated inside the conference room are people that can kill a person with a snap of their fingers.

They are dangerous, cunning and wicked.

They feast over other people's blood and fear.

They don't rest till they get their ways.

They crave to see fear in people's eyes, which is quite terrifying.

"Please," Seth mouths, closing his eyes in relief when I nod.

A chuckle escapes from my mouth when I see him wipe the sweat from his forehead. Scared old cat.

I begin walking in his direction. Nodding in appreciation when he opens the door for me, his hand clenching onto the doorknob.

I can literally hear Seth's rapid breathing, which makes me raise my eyebrows in concern.

"You good?" I ask before I can get further inside.

Seth is no coward, but he does behave like it most days.

The man has multiple black belts and he is also very good at shooting. He can literally kill everyone in this place with one eye closed.

"Now that you're here to see those people, I'm pretty good," He mutters, his eyes narrowing when he looks passed me.

With curiosity, I turn to look at what he is looking at, straighting up when I see Don Shawn standing with his usual unimpressed facial expression.

"Don Shawn," I acknowledge him, moving in his direction.

The man is quite intimidating, scary even. He carries this confident aroma with him, which can make anyone and everyone freeze in fear.

Anyone that knows him knows that he is cunning and scheming- just like his daughter... His princess.

People know not to mess with his daughter.

Don Shawn has ended many contracts. He has ruined many lives. He has ended many as well... He has done all this for Vivian.

I remember hearing that he killed two of his childhood friends for her.

Apparently, they looked at her with perverted eyes. The man did a lot to the men... I can't think about it without a shiver passing through my body.

"You're late," He says when I stand in front of him, a glass of wine in his hand.

Don Shawn and I are the same height, which means we are at eye level.

His calculating cold eyes are looking into mine, not once looking away.

I can tell that he wants to scare me, which doesn't work.

"My apologies, Don Shawn-" I debate with myself, wondering if I should tell him about my encounter with his daughter.

I know that she wasn't suppose to be here. The man wouldn't want his daughter to be in this room full of murderers.

He has sheltered her from this world. He has not shown her the full evil side of the mafia.

But, he has shown her a glimpse of this world.

"I dumped into someone on my way here, Don. They spilled some wine on me; I had to change into different clothes... I couldn't come in here with a ruined suit," I make up an excuse, not wanting to get the little vixen into trouble.

"Alright... Shall we begin the meeting now?" He questions, walking to sit at the end of the table when I nod in agreement.

I sit down on the other end, my laptop and files already placed in my line of vision.

The meeting begins when Shawn and I give our permissions. One of my most trusted men standing up to give us a summary of everything that we need to know.

There is a total of sixteen people in here.

Shawn and my trusted men have filled up half of the room, and the rest are Leaders of some of the most powerful mafias.

Yes, we have our disputes and wars, but we are all here to discuss the end of an important gang leader.

The leaders in the room have a lot of influence in our little world. They are quite powerful and sinister.

Shawn and I have the most power in the room, though. We, however, still need to have alliances.

A mission without strong alliances is as good as dead- it won't reach far before it fails.

Dave's gang has a lot of people and weapons. They are not dumb and they know that Shawn is making a plan to protect his daughter.

Dave is intelligent; he must be making a plan to protect his little useless kingdom.

We have to make sure the plan we make is solid before we can execute it.

My attention is drawn away from Seth, who is giving his ideas, moving to something that I just stepped on.

My eyebrows furrow as I move my leg around, pulling the little thing into my line of vision.

A look of realization forms on my face when I see a little recorder. An expensive one at that.

"So, that's why she was here." I think to myself.

"Don Azrael," I hear one of my men's voices, drawing my attention away from the little device.

I push it under the table, stepping on it with force as I begin to answer one of my men's questions.

"Bad girls don't always get their wishes fulfilled, baby girl." I think to myself with a smirk.

~

"What the-" I rapidly press on my phone, wondering why the audio has gone off.

I begin to feel annoyed, not knowing what the fuck is going on.

Everything was going perfectly. I heard everything clearly, and now everything sounds like a wave.

"Is it broken?" Serena asks, looking at me with curiosity.

"I don't know. You're the technologist here," I reply to her question, feeling irritated.

I try to press multiple words on my phone, but none of them seem to work.

I get annoyed, wanting to throw the phone away but Serena's hand shoots out, holding my wrist, which stops me.

"Vivian, don't do that," She says, grabbing the phone from my hand. "The phone hasn't done anything; the problem must be with the recorder," She adds.

"Recorder? I bought that thing yesterday," I mutter, wondering if the device was fake.

"It must have broken or maybe someone destroyed it." Serena states, making me freeze in my spot.

"Please, don't say that, Sere," I murmur under my breath, praying to the heavens above that no such thing has happened.

"Dad will kill me if he gets his hands on it," I think to myself, wondering what told me to go to the manor.

I can already see the disappoinment on his face. I can already hear the lecture.

I've messed up big time. I can feel it in my guts.

"Relax, Viv." Serena murmurs, holding onto my shoulders, helping me sit on the couch. "It isn't like he will know that it's you; he might think it's Dave that put it inside that place." Serena kneels in front of me, an assuring smile on her face.

"But you don't get– wait Dave?" I confusingly ask, wondering if she knows what's going on.

I haven't told her about what's happening. And I'm sure she didn't hear the summary– she was taking a shower when I began hearing the audio.

"Yes, Dave. I ain't dumb, Viv... The only person you hate at the moment is Dave– and well, Azrael. I could have said Azrael's name, but he is part of the meeting, and he is getting along well with your father." Serena explains.

I look into Serena's eyes, looking away afterwards, not wanting to see the warmth in them– something that my eyes lack.

I guess it's true what they say, opposites do attracts. Because that's what Serena and I are– opposites.

Serena is the kind one between us, friendly to strangers and those around her while I scowl in the presence of others.

Serena is always smiling while I always have a frown on my face.

Serena gets sad when things don't go her way, she even gives up on them. And well, I get angry till I manage to get things to work in my favor.

She should be shouting at me for not telling her anything, but she isn't. She's supporting me instead.

"I'm sorry for not telling you about what's going on. I didn't want to worry or hurt you... Dave is your father and I know how hard it is to hear people planning your father's murder." I murmur the last part, remembering the many times that I heard people say shit about my father.

"It's alright, Viv. I am not upset, I'm grateful instead." She genuinely says.

I raise my eyebrows in question when I hear her, not knowing if she's on drugs or if I'm the high one.

Cause grateful? That's not what I was expecting.

"I'm grateful because you're looking out for me. You have done so much for me. You've protected me from the bullies and from Dave, himself... I'm indebted to you.... Vivian, remember all the times that you ran to pick me up when Dave and his family hit me? Remember all the times that you fought with the bullies for me? The many threats you roared? The many fights you got in? Remember when you got Dave beaten for hurting me? Remember how you always look out for me? Girl, I would be dead if it wasn't for you... I would be six feet under with magots crawling over me; but I'm not, because you're always there to protect me.... Dave has never been my father and he never will be. He is just someone that contributed to my birth... A father should protect his children. He should treat his children equal, despite their gender. A father should be right there to hold his children when times get tough, he should never discard them. A father is someone that will hold you close when you feel like shit; he shouldn't be calling you names when you do little mistakes. A father is someone that will protect his children despite their birth story." Serena wipes the tears that drop from her eyes when she is done talking, chuckling to herself as she sits on the carpeted floor.

I decide to sit down next to her, placing my hand on top of hers.

"Dave never loved me nor has he ever appreciated me... Vivian, you are the only one that has loved me, and because of you I have had to see what family looks like... I have an amazing Uncle and Aunty here, and that's because of you... When I get tired of living you remind me that I'm worthy and you also tell me that I have so much to live for." Serena says, looking into my teary eyes.

"Do whatever you want with Dave. It isn't like I will feel any different," Serena utters. "The old bastard deserves every bad thing that will happen to him. And I hope he becomes a lesson to every man that lives to treat his children like shit." She adds bitterly, my hand squeezing hers in hopes of calming her down.

Things are about to get messy.

I've been saying the word mafia a lot. Sorry! These are the early chapters so the word might or might not be repeated for a bit.

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