KAYLA “I think there is going to be a business deal tonight, but I can’t get to it because the floor is heavily guarded, so don’t say anything yet. I’ll let you know when I have more info on it.” I sent a quick text to Miro while standing at the entrance of the room. I could hear the girls chatting in the room, so I had a few minutes to text before someone came looking for me. My phone dinged immediately with a reply. “Don’t try to get close. Ricardo is very smart and cunning. We can’t risk you getting caught before you get any plausible information." I deleted the message just as Issa came to the door. “What are you doing here? Were you texting someone?” She asked, eyeing the phone in my hand. I gave her a small smile. “Just the nurse in charge of my mama. I was just asking her to give me an update in case anything happens." Issa’s face turned sympathetic “Don’t worry, K. Your mama’s going to be fine.” I didn’t tell them that the doctor said there was no hope. “Thank you,
KAYLA We arrived at the club, and it was packed. It was also an underground branch, but this one was way more filled than ours ever was. A lot of the people in the club were foreigners who had rooms in the hotel. “Now this is what I’m talking about when I say I want to shake some ass,” Diamond yelled and began twerking right there at the door. “It feels good for once not to be the one on the poles." Ivory gestured to the pole sections where sexy girls were working the poles, and they were good, way better than I was. We walked deeper into the club to the bar first to grab our drinks to get the night started. Now that I was here in a sexy dress that matched my hair, I felt high on the attention. It made me feel sexy, and that was something I had never thought about myself before. Eyes followed us, but no one tried to touch us. It was a nice change that people weren’t touching me without my permission, unlike when I was dancing. I knew that there were going to be a few weirdos h
KAYLA “What do you mean by that?” I asked, trying to keep my voice as calm as possible. It was a trap. He didn’t suspect anything, but he was trying to find out if I was hiding something. If I panicked and fumbled over my words, I would be falling into the trap he had laid out for me. “I don’t know." He shrugged. “You tell me." “You want me to tell you what you think is off about me? That doesn’t make any sense. Tell me what made you say that.” I huffed. “You look like a woman who holds too many secrets. Secrets I wouldn’t like and would probably kill you for if I found out,” he answered firmly, and I wondered if I had let something slip. “Everyone has secrets. We wouldn’t be humans without them; besides, I bet your secrets are worse than mine. You look like the calm on the outside but deadly on the outside type. Beautiful like sin but dangerous like the devil.” “You should be a poet." He mocked, but it wasn’t in a tone that was insulting, so I just shrugged with a smirk. “I
RICARDO“And? Does that make me someone you can’t trust?” She huffed, her eyes a fiery pit of blue flames.I opened my mouth to argue when the familiar ringing tone assigned to someone special dinged from my phone.“I have to go, but we aren’t finished” I told her without looking at my phone.I gently nudged her off my lap and couldn’t stop the smile when she grumbled about it being the second time she moved.“It’s not the same.” I corrected when dropping two bundles of cash in her lap “At least I’m not storming out without a word.”“Whatever” She grumbled with a roll of her eyes.A chuckle slipped past my lips. It was the first time in a long time that I was easily amused.“I’ll see you soon, Kayla” Her name rolled easily off my lips.She said nothing and I walked out. I wasn’t stupid. While I was entranced by her, I knew she was hiding something. I just had to figure out if that something was harmful to me or not.When I walked out of the club, I finally looked at the text message f
KAYLAI hurried back to the room after Ricardo left. I tried looking for the girls to tell them that I was going back to the room, but I couldn’t find any of them, so I gave up. If they finished whatever they were doing with whoever, they would find me in the room.The lines were blurring, and it wasn’t supposed to be like that. I couldn’t make sense of what had just happened. Where was the hatred I was supposed to have for that man?It now felt as though my hatred towards him was forced but I had to admit he scared me tonight. I thought he had caught on to me when he suggested that I was hiding something.Thank goodness that I was a terrific liar and was able to steer the conversation in a favourable direction, else my body would probably be drifting away at sea by now.I grabbed my phone from where I had plugged it in by the bedside table and quickly called my best friend. I walked over to the bathroom, locked the door and turned on the tap and shower to avoid anyone hearing my conv
KAYLAMy hands shook with terror as I tried to process what Miro had just told me. No…There was no way it could be him. It just wasn’t possible.“Do you even know what you are saying? How could Ricardo have tried to kill Anita? Didn’t she get into the accident as soon as she stepped out of the office immediately after the meeting?” I emphasized each word because I wasn’t sure he understood the accusation he was pouring out like that.“You don’t have to say it like I don’t know what I am saying, K. Ricardo is responsible for Anita’s accident,” he said again, and my legs buckled even though I was already seated.“But how? She had just gotten assigned in less than twenty minutes and I’m sure it would take more than that for the news to reach Ricardo and for them to assign someone to take Anita out” I argued. I knew he was powerful, but the timing just didn’t make any sense.“You don’t pay attention enough to things around you, Kay. Even before you were assigned, there were rumors that we
KAYLAI woke up with a start, rubbing my eyes to clear my vision. Looking around the room, I saw that the girls were back and sleeping. I couldn’t recall when they had returned from the club or how I had fallen asleep, except that I had spent a lot of time trying to get more information from Issa. However, she refused to talk.I remembered that I tried to keep her awake so she could continue talking, but she was too drunk to do so. She kept mumbling incomprehensible things that were not important.Frustrated, I ran my hand through my hair. At least I now knew that she was part of the mafia or at least had a close relationship with them, and I decided that I would keep an eye on her and perhaps try to get some information from her, although I doubted, she would say anything more since the only reason she talked in the first place was because she was drunk.I got out of bed and headed to the bathroom to brush my teeth and wash my face. I also decided to order breakfast and some hangover
KAYLAThe short break was over, and we were back at work Wednesday night. I didn’t see Ricardo again till we left the hotel and honestly, I was happy I didn’t. I wouldn’t have known how to stop the hatred that would have been on my expression when I saw him.I had taken the time I didn’t see him to pull myself together and now I was looking forward to seeing him soon. I needed to get this over with so I could go back home. I just had to look for a way to meet him and spend more time with him alone.“Girl, I can’t believe it’s Wednesday already. I wouldn’t mind spending one more week in those sheets. It was amazing to be fucked into something soft for once” Diamond whined with a purse of her red lips.“Babygirl, that’s too much info” Ivory exclaimed with wide eyes. “and stop acting like you don’t got a nice bed at home”“Let me be and take yo grumpy ass somewhere else” Diamond sassily replied with a roll of her eyes and went back to applying her makeup.As usual, Issa was the first to
KAYLA Just as I was about to respond, Lisa walked in after knocking. I hung up and tried to wrap my head around things. Why would Ricardo give a direct order that would benefit me? Last time I checked, he did anything but care or even pay attention to me so I'd have sworn that he'd be pleased if I lost my job or at least that it wouldn't concern him if I did. “ Kayla? Kayla?” Lisa shook me “ Huh? Yes,” I nodded my head, snapping out of my thoughts. “ I was saying something to you but you seemed so out of it,” she said. “ Oh, sorry. What were you saying?” I felt guilty for making her talk to herself. “ Never mind that. Did anything happen while I was gone?” She asked, placing down my glass of apple juice. “ Why would you assume that something happened?” I faked a smile as I picked up the glass. “ For days now, you've been out of it but it was more because you were broken… well, at least, that's how you looked but
KAYLA Four days later I sat down quietly watching as Lisa took off my bandages. I'm glad it healed quite fast. “ The ointment the doctor gave me really worked,” I said, stretching my hands as I stared at it. “ Yes, I'm glad you're alright now,” she sighed. “ Would you like anything? Like a drink or food or just something,” she asked. “ Maybe an apple juice? Yeah, probably that,” I nodded my head. “ Alright, I'll be right back,” she excused herself to get me the drink of my choice. My mind went back to what had happened five days ago when I had gotten back from the team dinner. Even when I had first been with Ricardo for the mission, I wasn't this afraid of him. The look in his eyes as he forcefully scrubbed me was a sight I wouldn't easily forget. It was scary seeing him like that and for a moment, I doubted my choice. “ Maybe I should have listened to Miro and Liliana,” I muttered but I couldn't leave now, not after fighting
RICARDO I sat down waiting in a restaurant with Enzo and Luca by my side. Luca was obviously not happy to tag along but it was necessary to have both of them around as the person I was dealing with was way more trouble than even clients we deal with. “ Couldn't you bring Enzo with you alone? Why did I have to tag along?” Luca had been complaining since we got here. “ You complain too much. I'm more stressed than you as it is,” I pinched the bridge of my nose. “ No, I'm more stressed. I don't get paid enough for this,” he went on and on like he had lost a knot or two. Just then, the door of the private room slid open and he walked in with my men behind him. “ Ricardo! Long time no see,” he smiled as he approached. Just seeing him felt like some years from my life had been taken away. “ Why are you suddenly back?” I asked, squinting my eyes, not concealing how badly I'd prefer him not to be here. “ You could at least pretend to miss
KAYLA It had been a few weeks now since I and Ricardo officially got engaged and i moved in with him. He was barely ever around and I had a feeling he was intentionally avoiding me. “ Kayla? Kayla?!” Hannah, my co-worker who sat right beside me called my name. “ Yes? Did you need me for anything?” I snapped out of my thoughts. “ You're always so lost in thoughts that it's making me worried, not to mention that you've been making minor errors nowadays,” she sighed. “ I'm sorry,” I apologized. I had decided to take up this job at one of Ricardo's legal businesses managed by Luca. It was boring at home and it always made me tense with how much Ricardo ignored me. It would have been better if he had thrown a fit after he found out that I was the one he was marrying. “ Maybe you're pushing yourself too hard?” She worried. “ Not at all, I'm alright,” I smiled warmly to reassure them. “ That's what she always says. Here,” Mrs Smith, who was
HAVEN I stretched out on the king-sized bed which has layers of white sheets. It was still very early and I knew I probably missed Iris’ call but it was worth it. All I had to do was come up with an an excuse or beat the time and the second option was still possible. I could make it home before dawn if I left soon enough. “ You weren't as bad as I thought you would be. I guess I underestimated you,” I smirked as I stared at Marco who was fast asleep. I propped my head up with my arm. He looked even more innocent when he slept, it made me wonder if this was the same passionate guy of last night. I touched his face, caressing his jawline and paying attention to the details of his face. The more I looked at him, the more handsome he appeared. “ I can't believe I slept with a random person. Not to mention that I've been saving it for Ricardo when next we meet but then again, I might have grown old waiting for that to happen so I believe it's safe to say you were the perfect
HAVENA week later… I picked up my phone and dialed a number I had previously thought I hadn't taken. It was about time we meet up. “ Yes, hello,” I greeted the moment Marco answered. “ I'm surprised you called me so suddenly,” he laughed awkwardly. “ Well, I nearly forgot that I took your number,” I admitted. “ Ohhhh, I'm not surprised,” he remarked. “ No, that's not what I meant. What I meant was I had forgotten that we had exchanged numbers because I was tipsy when it happened,” I confessed. “ It's alright, ” he dismissed and unlike me, I actually felt a bit guilty. “ So....” I hesitated. “ So?” He urged. “ I'm getting off work soon. Would you like to meet up?” I asked. I was at home but well, I didn't want it to look like I was jobless. “ Sure, I mean it's not like I have anything doing tonight,” he accepted. “ Where are we meeting?” He inquired. “ Same place where we met,” it was perfect for a second meeting and perfect for wh
A week laterHAVEN “ Wait, where are you headed and dressed like that?” Iris asked the moment I walked past her on black booty shorts with black net socks and a black corset topping it up with black boots and gothic makeup. “ Can't you take a guess?” I said twirling so she could have a closer look. “ Hmmm... Nope, don't see nothing,” she said after a while of peering. “ I'm out to a club to grab some drinks and party? Well, I guess that's the plan,” I shrugged. “ Are for real right now?” she scoffed. “ I didn't think you'd go partying in a place you're unfamiliar with. That's definitely unlike you,” she said. “ It's all because of that damned bride of Ricardo, of course. You know how much effort I put in to get dad to let us come to Italy alone, right?” I sat down on the papasan chair next to Iris as I narrated. “ You still haven't gotten over the fact that he's now engaged and planning his wedding?” Iris asked like it wasn't supposed to be a big d
KAYLA A month later I had managed to get dad to let me marry Ricardo and after much thought he accepted with a condition in place of course. The condition was that I would live with him for a while before deciding whether or not I could handle him. “ You look so gorgeous, Miss Leona,” my personal maid squealed as the make-up artists finished up with my makeup. “ I look so much prettier,” I smiled softly as I stared in the mirror. “ What nonsense are you spewing on such a special day?” She reprimanded. “You’ve always been gorgeous, young miss,” she praised. Today was I and Ricardo's engagement officially and it was being held in our family estate with different mafia families being present today. This also meant the big reveal. Ricardo was going to see who he'd be marrying today “ I appreciate the compliment,” I chuckled as she dismissed the make-up artists. “ And I'd prefer if you'd just address me by my name. No need for honorifics,” it
LILIANA Weekend I laid on the beach bed or rather pool bed since we were by the pool side. I picked up the orange juice on the table besides me and sipped from it through the straw. “ So our mission was successful? ” Nico lifted his shades to his hair and looked at me. He was right next to my bed. “ Yup, as expected. Our plans never fail, ” I smirked as I swirled the orange juice around in my cup. “ But there was this one time when you came up with a... ” “ Not now, Nico. Besides, that was just once, ” I adjusted myself on the bed, placing my hands behind my head. “ It was actually four times, ” he reminded. He was out to embarrass me. “ Okay, I get the point but what matters now is this one and all other of my plans excluding those four have been a success,” I said. “ You've still had a lot of messed up plans but I guess, you're free to do whatever floats your boat,” he intentionally got on my nerves as he sipped from his cup. “ If you're done talking, let's