FORBIDDEN LOVE WITH THE MAFIA KING

KAYLA “What the fuck is wrong with you, Kayla? How can you be late on this day of all days?" My best friend, Miro, scolded me as soon as I arrived at the office. “The universe is against me, Ro,” I whined. “I slept early yesterday, but I still managed to wake up late." Today was the briefing for our new assignment, and though my presence wasn’t needed since they never give me any assignments, my co-workers would never miss an opportunity to poke and complain about my lack of work ethics, which wasn’t true. My life was a trail of bad decisions and bad luck. My mother had died during childbirth after demanding that they save her baby instead when they told her the choice had to be made. That decision was the beginning of the hell that is now my reality. My father, Jonathan Monroe, has never looked at me with an ounce of love since I was born. To him, I should have been the dead one instead of Mom, and he wasn’t shy about being vocal about his opinion. I’ve tried so hard to get him

KAYLA “Girl, I can’t believe you are going to be getting another solo in one night. I’ve practically crawled on my knees for Bernado, but that good for nothing, pot belly bastard won’t budge,” Ivory whined from her spot in front of the dressing mirror. It’s been three months since I started working at The Underground. I arrived in Italy the next week, after the assignment was reassigned to me. Dad wasn’t happy, but he could do nothing since I was the only free agent, and they had to send someone. I was assigned a fake mother who was a cancer patient. She used to be an agent before she got sick. I also auditioned to become a dancer in one of Ricardo’s clubs. We thought it would make it easier to get direct access to the man, but it’s been three months, and he has yet to show up here. In those three months, I met Ivory, Issa, and Diamond. I wouldn’t call us best friends, but they were good to me, and we were tight to the extent we could. I also made a lot of enemies because Bernado

KAYLA I had never been to this part of the club in the three months I started working here, and I guess it’s because it’s been reserved for him. It’s been three months, and I had gotten nothing useful for HQ, and they were not happy. I don’t know why Ricardo ordered a private dance from me, but I was too desperate to finally have something to tell HQ when I call in for feedback. There were men stationed outside the door when I got there, and they gave me that familiar lustful stare that I could never get used to. Ivory had chosen a red lingerie with fake diamonds. I took a deep breath and pushed the door open but was surprised to see that it was empty. “Go in; the boss will be here soon." One of the guards grumbled, so I entered the room and locked the door behind me. I listened for a few seconds and scanned the room for possible cameras before bringing out the burner phone that was given to me to contact Miro. I sent him a quick text to Miro to let him know that I was finally

KAYLA  I stayed seated for a few minutes after he stormed out. The only thing I could hear was the loud panting of my breath as I kept staring at the door.  I took a deep breath to calm myself down before I gathered my things and began to make my way to the dressing room. I knew there would be questions, so I also prepared for how to divert them.

KAYLA The interior of the hotel made me feel inferior. Elegance and wealth were on display just like the people in the reception areas. We got scornful looks as we approached the receptionist. Eyes judging us based on our lack of class. Though we all had on simple outfits that cost almost our entire pay checks, we still stood out like sore thumbs, but there was no time to ponder on it as Issa pulled me along to the man who had a disdained smile on his lips. “How may I help you?” He asked, almost with a sneer that didn’t go unnoticed by any of us. “I told myself I was going to behave else this motherfucker would have ended up with my fist on his already crooked nose,” Diamond muttered, not so quietly drawing chuckles from all of us. The man’s eyes widened in both alarm and surprise, not expecting such a comeback. “I’m glad you remember. Please don’t get us kicked out,” Issa whispered harshly back but more quietly, drawing a smirk from Diamond. “I called earlier to make a reserva