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I was currently getting dressed to go to Matteo's mansion, or as I like to call it: 'Serena's former cage.'

A formal dinner was being hosted in Matteo's mansion as a celebration of his new casino and, sadly, we were invited.

I had my gun, actually, Dimitri's gun, inside the inner-pocket of my blazer for safety precautions.

I just finished putting on a diamond necklace when the door opened and Satan walked in. He scanned my outfit up and down and then, shook his head.

"No."

I furrowed my brows. "What no?"

"No, you can't wear that."

I looked down at my outfit, which consisted of a black suit blazer, trousers, and a chic gold belt, and then I looked back at Enzo. "Hell yeah I can."

He glared at me. "We are going to a party, Xena. Not a business meeting. So you can't wear a suit."

"Why the fuck not? You're wearing a suit as well," I said, scanning his smart navy blue suit.

He scanned his outfit too. "Touché," He nodded, "But this is different-"

"That is not different. You're just a sexist person," I cut him off.

He sighed. "You will not be wearing that."

"I will."

He groaned again. "That is a formal wear and-"

"And it is completely my style, therefore, I will be wearing it. I thought you learnt your lesson. Ordering and commanding me is useless. I don't follow rules. I make and break them"

I took a step closer to him; 1 inch closer and we would be kissing. As I leaned in towards his ear, I felt Enzo stiffen up.

"I'm gonna wear this suit and nothing you can say or do will change my mind so, good luck hun," I whispered and took a step back. I winked at him and walked out of the room.

I bet his face was priceless.

I strode down the elegant spiral staircase, the clicks of my black heels resonating around.

I loved my outfit today.

Actually, everyday.

I had a pretty good fashion sense.

I spotted Ysaline at the end of the staircase wearing a smart, strapless, white jumpsuit with a sweetheart neckline. She was pulling it off like the queen she was.

She saw me and whistled in admiration. "Damn girl! Your outfits never fail to amaze me," She smiled.

Suddenly, I felt a strong arm wrap around my waist.

Of course, it had to be only one person.

"Let's go, love," He said, kissing my cheeks.

I faked puking and wiped the kiss off my cheek. Enzo rolled his eyes at that.

"You'll get used to it," He said, smiling.

"Yeah, sure. Just like how I got used to you being the asshole you are," I sassed and his eyes widened.

"You'll make the perfect queen," He said softly.

I am the perfect queen.

I don't need anyone's validation or approval, especially not his.

Dante and Ysaline were in an Aston Martin, Ysaline's favorite car.

On the other hand, Enzo and I got into a Rolls Royce Phantom, one of the few cars I liked, but not on the top of my list. Lamborghini Veneno topped my list. That car had the looks and the speed. 365 km per hour. Damn!

"Wanna play a song?" Enzo asked, connecting his phone to the AUX. I nodded and he opened Spotify. I played the first song that came to my mind: Confident by Demi Lovato.

"It's time for me to take it! I'm the boss right now! Not gonna fake it! Not when you go down! Cuz this is my game, and you better come to play!" I sang loudly.

"I used to hold my freak back!

But now I'm letting go,

I make my own choice,

Bitch I run this show,

So leave the lights on,

No you can't make me behave!" I continued, indirectly sending this message to Enzo.

His tightening grip on the steering wheel and his jaw clenching proved one thing: Message conveyed.

Throughout the whole ride to Matteo's mansion, I sang this song and it was pissing him off. I loved it.

Then came the abominable traffic.

Ugh.

Enzo sighed and leaned back on his seat. Then, he glanced over at my outfit.

"You're not like other girls, you know?"

I frowned and turned to face him, deeply offended. "Excuse me?"

Enzo furrowed his brows, trying to figure out why I was so offended by his so called compliment.

"Uh, I said that you aren't like other girls..."

"And is that supposed to be a compliment?"

He nodded.

"Hmm, I see. And why do you feel that I'm not like other girls?"

"Well, you like dressing in suits and the color black- it makes you look powerful."

"I am powerful," I stated promptly, "And yes, dressing in black and wearing suits doesn't make me strong, and dressing in dresses and pink, doesn't make me weak either. Remember this."

"And what do you mean by 'You aren't like other girls', huh, Enzo? If I'm not like other girls, than what am I? A man?"

"No, no-" He instantly tried to deny, "I mean, you are ambitious, strong, sassy and-"

"I'll stop you right there. So you mean to say that other girls aren't sassy, strong, and ambitious? If you think that, then you're highly mistaken. I don't even know why men, and women as well, think that not being like other girls is a compliment."

"I know men like you, Enzo. You've been blinded by Internalized misogny. People like you think that when a girl wears pink, she's weak. When a girl wears black, she's badass. Lemme make one thing clear- the clothes and colors you wear don't define you. Your actions do."

He pondered over my words with a thoughtful look and then nodded. "You're right..."

When am I not?

The traffic soon cleared up and he started driving once again.

"We reached," He finally announced, parking the car in the empty area.

Damn, beautiful mansion.

It was gigantic, but smaller than Enzo's and Dante's.

It had a nice modern touch to it with those tainted glass windows and a black paint.

My style.

Ysaline and Dante reached right after us. She saw me and came running up, glad to finally leave Dante's side.

We walked in, Enzo holding my waist and Dante holding Ysaline's.

Possessive bastards.

Enzo knocked on the door twice. Shuffling of footsteps were heard and then the door opened.

It was Matteo.

"Hey guys, come on in," He said, extending the door. Reluctantly, Ysaline and I stepped in.

Man, this house was amazing.

He guided us to the gigantic hall.

"So...how're you doing?" I asked Matteo, pretending to show concern, "You know, after what happened yesterday?"

He nodded. "I-I'm good."

Pfft, yeah right.

I raised my brow at him.

He then sighed. "I'm not good. Hell, I feel broken!"

I acted to be worried. "I understand, Matteo."

He gave me a weak smile.

The 5 of us sat down on the sofa; Enzo and me in one, Ysaline and Dante opposite to us, and Matteo on the sofa to our right.

"Carlo!" Matteo called out.

Seconds later, the man, Carlo, walked into the hall, carrying a tray of drinks and food.

He placed it on the coffee table in front of us and walked away.

"Please, start eating," Matteo said with a smile.

The smile was fake.

I could see the sadness behind it.

Brushing it off, the first thing I took was whiskey.

Ah, my love.

I drank a long sip of it and smiled in content.

"Xena, you know normal people usually start their meal with food, and not alcohol," Enzo said with a shake of head, but I didn't miss the faint smile playing on his lips.

I shrugged. "Normal people might, but I'm not normal. I'm unique."

Seeing this, he chuckled.

I scanned the plethora of food in front of me.

Nice.

It consisted of different cuisines; Italian, Chinese, Mexican, Burmese.

I instantly attacked the chili garlic noodles and moaned at the amazing taste.

Soon enough, the food was finished.

I mean, what can you expect if you make such delicious food?

"Capo!" An unfamiliar voice yelled, and a shuffling of footsteps were heard. A guy rushed into the hall with a laptop in his hand. His hair was disheveled but he managed to look cute despite that.

"What's wrong, Remy?" Matteo asked, furrowing his brows.

"Capo! Remember the necklace you gifted Serena?!" The man, now I know as Remy, asked.

Matteo nodded, his face saddening at Serena's name. "What about it?"

"Well, as you know, the necklace had a tracker," Remy continued, almost on his tippy-toes at how excited he was. Matteo nodded.

"I just found it's location," He finished, grinning widely.

Fuck.

Matteo froze, and ever so slowly, he turned to meet Remy's eyes. "Where?" He practically growled.

Remy rushed into the hall and sat down on one of the couches. He placed the laptop on his lap. He pressed a key and some weird sounds were heard.

"The necklace is New York," He informed, continuing to press random keys on his laptop.

"Serena is in New York," Matteo repeated, a large, genuine smile etched on his face.

"The necklace's last location is New York, Central Park," Remy notified.

"So what are we waiting for? Let's go! She's probably in a hotel near Central park!" Matteo said, standing up in excitement.

Shit!

"No, hold on. The necklace has been in the same position for over a day. Seems like Serena threw it away," Remy continued.

Hearing this, Matteo's face dulled. "But New York is gigantic! She can be anywhere!"

I bit the insides of my cheek to hide my grin.

"True...but we can check the CCTV footage of the Central Park and see where she goes," Enzo suggested.

Why did he have to open his mouth?

Matteo seemed ecstatic.

Fuck.

"Fine, just give me a moment. It'll take some time to hack into the footage," Remy muttered, his fingers hitting the keyboard at a frantic pace.

God, please save Serena.

"Eureka!" Remy suddenly yelled, grinning widely at the laptop screen. He turned the laptop towards us and pressed the space button.

It was a CCTV footage of the Central Park.

There was a beautiful, young, woman sitting on the bench.

It didn't take a genius to figure out that she was Serena.

"Vita mia," Matteo murmured, staring at the screen intently.

Remy zoomed in on her.

Serena, as shown in the footage, removed the necklace from around her neck and threw it into the dustbin of the park.

Ha! Take that, Matteo!

Then, Serena stood up from the bench and walked into a car. A cab.

"Remy! Zoom into the number plate of the cab. Let's see if we can track it down," Dante said frantically.

Fuck again.

"Yeah, give me a moment," He muttered, hastily typing on the keyboard.

Shit, shit, shit.

I had to do something.

Aha!

A lightbulb lit up in my head.

"I'm going to the washroom," I announced, getting up from the couch.

"Go straight, turn right, walk down the corridor and you'll find it," Matteo informed, not tearing his gaze from the laptop.

"And yes, don't try-"

"To escape. Yeah, I know, I know," I cut Enzo off.

Rolling my eyes, I walked out of the hall and instead of turning right, I turned left.

I kept walking straight cautiously.

I turned right and I grinned after seeing the thing I was searching for.

The electricity generator.

Smirking, I removed the gun from my inside-pocket and placed the silencer on it.

Grinning, I raised my gun, aimed it at the generator, and...pulled the trigger.

BANG!

The generator blew up.

The silencer suppressed the sound of the bullet, so it was less likely for Matteo to hear it.

Ducking through the blown up pieces, I rushed back into the hall.

My aim was basically to shut the electricity supply of this mansion.

No electricity means no Wi-Fi, so the CCTV footage of the Central Park would buffer. So, Remy would take longer to find Serena.

Well, the lights of the mansion shut down as well so there was darkness everywhere.

I successfully managed to run back to the hall despite the darkness.

Even through the absence of light, I could see the frustrated faces of Matteo, Dante, Enzo, and Remy.

"What's wrong?" I asked innocently, sitting down on the couch beside Ysaline.

"Are you blind? There is a power-down. The electricity supply has been cut...so it'll take longer to find Serena. My laptop isn't switching on," Remy replied with a groan.

Yay!

A guard suddenly came rushing in. "Capo, someone shot the electricity generator."

"What?!" All the men growled.

The guard nodded.

"Then whoever did it, must still be inside the estate. Find him," Matteo barked. The guard nodded, terrified, and ran away.

Half an hour passed...

Ysaline and I talked about our memorable vacation to Australia, where we slapped Dylan, the underboss of the Australian mafia.

The electricity came back all of a sudden, making me blink and jump.

Shit...shit, shit, shit.

Remy grinned and switched on his dear laptop.

He pressed a key and then, his smile dropped.

"Uh...I got the number plate of the cab. XYZ-1234," Remy mumbled, "Bu-but, turns out, this cab got into a crash."

Huh?

"What do you mean?" Matteo asked, frowning.

Was he deaf? Remy just said that the cab crashed.

"I mean, this cab crashed into a bus yesterday. It's in the news," Remy clarified.

Fuck yeah!

"So, how do we track it down, then?" Matteo asked him, groaning.

"I might be able to track down the driver of the cab," He replied, diverting his attention back to the laptop.

After a few minutes, Remy froze. Ever so slowly, he turned to face us.

"What?" Matteo asked impatiently, "Did you find the driver of the cab?"

"Ya, well...the driver's name was Alec Davis," He began.

Wait, did he just say was?

"And he's dead."

All the eyes snapped up to Remy when he said that.

"What?!" Enzo barked.

He nodded. "The cab driver, Alec, was found lying in a pool of his own blood, near Central Park. He was shot in his chest."

Tring, tring, tring!

We have a winner!

Serena!

"So you're saying that Serena killed this man?" Matteo asked, gulping hard.

Was he scared of her?

Good.

He should be.

"Uh, well, we aren't sure who the killer is, right?" Dante asked, trying to ease the uneasiness of Matteo.

Remy pursed his lips.

"What is it?" Matteo asked.

"The murder weapon was a Smith and Wesson 500...," He trailed off.

Ah, Smith and Wesson 500. The same gun I gave to Serena on the day of her wedding for safety.

"The police has taken the gun in order to find evidence, like fingerprints and all, you know," Remy said, sounding a bit hesitant.

"Remy, stop beating around the bush," Matteo growled.

"So...I hacked into the NYPD server and opened the file about this murder of this driver...and I found out that the DNA of fingerprints on the gun matched with... ," He continued, "Serena's."

Silence.

The quietness in the room could almost be made tangible.

So Serena killed the cab driver?

I smirked.

Fabulous work, Serena. Proud of you.

I glanced at Matteo and saw a hint of pride and shock on his face.

Containing my chuckle, I looked at Ysaline. She looked back at me and smirked.

"Serena turned out to be a badass bitch, eh?" She whispered with a grin. I nodded, my smirk widenin

"Delete that."

What?

Everyone turned to Matteo when he said that.

"Delete what?' Remy asked, scrunching up his nose.

"Delete everything about the case. Especially the DNA on the gun. Delete that," Matteo instructed firmly.

"But why?" Enzo questioned, perplexed.

"I don't want Serena to get into trouble. With her fingerprints on the murder weapon, she is already in deep shit. Hack into the NYPD and delete any traces of clues in the case that point to Serena, starting with the gun," Matte ordered.

Wow...

"Uh...alright," Remy agreed, clicking few keys on the laptop.

Few minutes later, he looked away from the laptop with a smile.

"Done," He said, nodding, "I deleted it."

"So, there's nothing else that could help us find her?" Matteo asked desperately.

Remy sighed. "I'm not quite sure. She must have left Italy by a plane with a fake name, that's for sure. I'll check the CCTV footage of the New York airports to see whether anyone matches the description of Serena."

"Thanks Remy," Matteo sighed.

He smiled. "Just doing my job."

"Oh, did we find the guy who shot the generator?" Enzo suddenly asked.

Matteo shook his head with a shrug.

"Wow, such a great mafia you guys have. Can't even find the person who shot the generator," I mumbled under my breath.

Unfortunately, Remy heard it. He turned to me with a glare.

"Excuse me?" He spat, "A lowlife like you won't know anything about mafias."

Ha, you'd be surprised.

"Remy," Enzo said sternly, "Talk to her with respect."

Remy frowned. "Bro, she's just one of your whores."

Fuck him.

Before Enzo could do anything, I stood up and strode towards him.

I was seeing red.

Folding my hands into a tight fist, I swung and hook-punched him.

My eyes blazing in rage, I straddled Remy and snaked my hands around his neck in a secure, robust grip.

"I am not his whore," I growled, giving him another agonizing punch, "and you will respect me."

No one stopped me.

No one could stop me.

Matteo, Dante, and Enzo stared at me wide-eyed, glued to their positions, while Ysaline sat there with a bored, but a knowing expression.

She knew what happens when people insult me.

I never did well with insults, especially if it came from the mouth of a man.

Remy shoved me off him and gave me a sharp punch on my face. I groaned and then raised my face to give him a harsh glare.

Blood trickled down my lips and my jaw was bruised for sure.

Fisting my hands tightly, I punched Remy on the jaw and instantly spin hook kicked him in the abdomen. Shrieking in pain, he staggered down on the floor on his palms.

I straddled him again and head-butted him.

"Fuck," Remy swore, frowning deeply in intense pain.

I raised my right hand, about to give him a nice punch on the jaw, when my gaze fell on the platinum ring on my index finger.

"Wear it, Shena!"

"Should I?"

She nodded, her doe eyes staring up at me cutely. "As long as you wear it, there will be noooo blood and violence. This ring will protect you, Shena!"