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"𝐃𝐢𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐭"

"Bella," Someone called, causing me to whine in annoyance.

Then I felt someone poke my side, so I flipped over and opened my eyes, but I quickly regretted it due to the harsh lighting.

"Jesus," I mumble and rub my eyes to adjust the light.

When I reopen my eyes, I see Nicolo with a huge grin standing at the foot of my bed. His golden locks were lightly ruffled as normal, and he was dressed casually in sweatpants and a regular tee.

"I'm glad you're sober now," I murmur as I rise from my bed.

He gave me a lopsided grin and shrugged casually as he ran his fingers through his hair.

"Well, you left me alone to get drunk by myself, so I'm not sure what you were expecting,"

I sigh and slump back down on my pillow, shaking my head.

"What time is it?" I ask, lifting my arm over my forehead.

"Noon," He says, "Uncle Dre and Mum are downstairs waiting for you, everyone's eating breakfast,"

As soon as I heard the sound of food, I leapt from my bed.

"Mhm, thought so," Nicolo mumbled, I ignored him, exiting my room and skipping down the stairs.

As I walk into the kitchen, I catch the sight of mum on dads lap sitting at the table while Uncle Dre was stacking himself a stack of pancakes.

I kiss my mother on the cheek and pat my father on the shoulder before approaching Uncle Dre, who had just noticed my presence.

"Bella!" He beams and drops the plate on the counter before embracing me in his arms.

His arms sway me side to side as I mutter a brief hello before he lets go and kisses my forehead.

He points to a plate of pancakes, "The pancakes are just there."

I stroll up to the table and take a seat after grabbing a plate and piling three entire pancakes on it.

I take the syrup and pour it over the pancakes before digging in with my fork.

As it hits my taste buds, I close my eyes and smile contentedly. When I reopened them, Nicolo was sitting next to me, taking a pancake from my plate and placing it on his own plate.

"Get your own, Nico!" I frown and reach for my pancake, but he smirks and shoves it into his mouth.

Everyone fell silent as I stared at him blankly, my stomach churning with fury. I lunge from my seat, ready to attack him, but a strong pair of arms pull me back.

"Hey!" I shriek.

Nicolo chuckles as he runs, and I wriggle in the tight grasp, wanting to break free and smack my brother in the head.

"Calm down, I'll give you two of mine," I go limp as a result of Uncle Dre's words, and I stop moving and smile happily.

I lean back in my seat as the arms release and I see Uncle Dre place the two new pancakes on my plate, grinning broadly.

"Thanks, Uncle Dre," I lean over and kiss his cheek.

I continue to devour the food, and my attention goes to my father who called my name.

Turning to him and my mum he places a folder in front of me, like with every other mission.

"This one is different, Bella."

I rose my eyebrows and pursed my lips, "How different?"

He looks to Uncle Dre and Uncle Dre looks over at me with a small smile, "You're going to be working with someone,"

I frown immediately, that was different.

He begins to elaborate as he looks at my father.

"Lucien Agnello, our new partner, wants to get rid of a certain gang leader."

"And the gang he was talking about was currently on our 'fuck them off' list, so we offered that you'd be happy to help out," Andre continues.

"So, I decided to mention that you and his son, Roman, should work together on the assignment. While you distract the target, Roman can collect the money. The folder contains all of the relevant info."

"It will take place tonight in Brooklyn. That means you'll have to remain the night and come home the next day. And, we've already made arrangements for you both to stay in a hotel room."

"Separate rooms," Dad mentions looking at me.

I nod slowly, taking it all in, especially the fact that I'll be spending an entire mission with Roman, as well as a whole night with him.

I take a deep breath and raise my orange juice to my lips, sipping it while I move my focus to the two men who appeared to be waiting for my reaction.

After swallowing, I set the cup on the table and shrug, "Okay,"

Dad nods once and returns to his phone while Uncle Andre smiles at me and clasps his hands together.

"All right, it's settled; the driver will pick you and Roman up at five this evening," Andre says, and I nod.

After finishing my pancakes, I rise from my seat and walk towards my room, carrying the folder in my hand.

I brush my teeth and tidy myself up before changing into some plain sweatpants and a crop top. I scan the information while sitting cross-legged on my bed, holding the folder in my palms.

The target had brown hair and blue eyes and was twenty-five years old. Wyatt Wright is his name. His gang was well-known in New York; it was previously the top-ranked gang, but it was just demoted to tenth place owing to monetary costs.

His men stole weapons and assassinated various members from the Italian Empire, Roman's Mafia. And the gang leader himself gave orders to steal from my father's Mafia, resulting in three hundred grand worth of shipments.

That wasn't a lot of money to us, and we could easily replace it, but anyone who stole from us wouldn't get away with it, and most people who knew about it knew the price: death.

The exciting part for them was that they never knew when we'd show up. They had no idea when or who will come along and serve their payment. Funny thing was, they didn't realise an innocent vixen could be a ruthless killer, so most of the time I was their small price.

Continuing to read it, the approach appeared to be well-cut and clear. We were heading to a certain estate where a party was being thrown, and gang members, as well as mob alliances, were invited.

Roman and I would both be there. Of course, separately.

I would simply seduce the target, while Roman made arrangements with the said targets' men to collect the money.

The money was one million dollars in cash, split between my mafia and Roman's. It was said to be located inside the estate, where Roman would collect it with some men and then signal for us to leave by the end.

But there was a catch: my task was to seduce and kill. As usual, however, this one would be a little more difficult. Because we need to collect the money, I'd assassinate the target after the money was obtained.

As I gather my belongings, I ponder my alternatives as I take a duffel bag and begin packing my essentials.

Nicolo was the only person with whom I've ever done a mission when partnering up. It was a one-time situation where we both had to work together to get what we needed, and we were easily done by the end of the night.

But we each have our own jobs; Partnering missions weren't necessary as Nicolo and I have our own departments. He has more business-related ones, while I have my 'seduce and kill' obligations. Of course, we are both paid well for our jobs, and I thoroughly enjoy mine.

After a few hours of packing and planning, I talked it over with Andre to make sure I understood everything, and he agreed that I got everything I needed to know.

The mission was at eight p.m. tonight, giving us two hours beforehand to prepare, since the drive to Brooklyn would take an hour or more, depending on traffic.

I'd kept my old attire on, only adding my Nikes onto my feet and slung my duffel over my shoulder. I had packed my outfit for tonight as well as spare sweatpants and undergarments, in my bag.

As the clock hits five, I descend the spiral staircase, already hearing voices at the bottom. I turn over to the door to find Roman, Uncle Dre, and my parents standing there.

I come beside my mum and the attention comes to me. Mum suddenly pulls me into her arms, her hands gently rubbing over my back while she whispers for me to be careful.

I kissed her cheek and looked over at Roman, who was staring at me blankly, so I smiled and extended my hand to him.

"Nice to see you again, Roman,"

Taking my hand, his lips tilt to the side as he responds.

"Likewise, Arabella,"

Letting go, Uncle Dre gives me a good bear hug and wishes me luck. Dad then reaches over and pulls me into his arms.

I smile in his warm embrace before he mutters something only I could hear.

"If he tries anything, I'll kill him."

My eyes widen at his words, the seriousness of his words struck me, and I gulp sharply.

He pulls away and pats me on the shoulder before moving towards mum and wrapping his arms around her as she smiles warmly at me.

I turn back to face Roman, who had stepped out ahead of me.

"We will call you once the job is done,"

They nod and smile one more time and I turn as the guard closes the front door.

Roman puts his hand on the small of my back and leads us to the car, where the driver opens the door and I slide in behind him.

Once the car started driving away, I sat back in the seat and turned to Roman.

"Ready, Agnello?" I say and hold my fist up towards him.

He looks down at it amused, but brings his fist to mine and bumps it.

"Ready, Ella."