(Mariana) The guard moved to the side letting me go into the room. I turned the knob and pushed the door open. I looked around the room and my eyes landed on Janet. I rushed over to her side.She was on a little bed by the corner,her neck was bandaged and she looked pale, almost like she was dead. I sat on the vacant seat by the bed and lightly squeezed her hand, tears welled up in my eyes. I never thought Janet would try something like this, she didn't show any signs. She was always smiling, always trying to cheer me up when I was down. It was because of this place, this toxic hellhole. The club, the hostel, Lorenzo. Yes, it was all Lorenzo's fault. He had kidnapped us and kept us here against our will, he forced us to work for him like slaves and then when he didn't find anymore use for us, he disposed of us. Lorenzo Mclaren, I hated him. I looked around the room and I spotted him at the corner staring at me. All the anger and the pain welled up inside of me. I hated him, he was
Cont'd (Marianna) Samantha laughed "Thank you very much, I cooked it myself" She takes another spoonful of soup and holds it up to my mouth. " Here, have some more."I opened my mouth and let her feed me again. "Thank you Samantha" I said, after swallowing the second spoon. " I really mean it, you've done a lot for me today."" Oh it's okay. You were going through a lot, you needed support even if it was just a little," She shrugged. "When it was me, no one cared. Everyone was going through one thing or another so no one had time for anyone but themselves. I had to deal with my shit all alone." "I'm sorry to hear that" I say to her." It's fine," she says, shaking off the thought."Enough of the sad stories, let's eat more.""Let's?" I ask, raising an eyebrow in question."Yeah, did you really think I'd make something this delicious and not eat out of it?" She said with a smirk and brought out another spoon from the tray which caused me to giggle.We continued like that, eating
(Lorenzo)I gazed out of the window of my office, the bustling streets of the city laid out before me. The sidewalks were crowded with people, like ants scurried about their business. The sun was setting, and the sky was aflame with orange and pink hues. I heard the door open behind me, and I turned to see Giovanni standing there."Boss, everything's ready," he said, his voice steady and confident. I nodded and followed him out of the office.We walked down the corridor and headed towards the elevator. My thoughts were clouded as we rode down to the parking lot.The elevator door opened with a ding, and we stepped out into the empty parking lot. The silence was deafening,and the only sound was the echo of our footsteps on the concrete floor. We made our way towards the car and I got in the backseat while Giovanni had taken the driver's seat."Let's go." I said and he started the engine taking me to the warehouse.By the time we reached the warehouse,It was dark. Giovanni pulled the car
(Mariana)It had been days since I had last seen Janet, and I couldn't help but feel worried. I had visited the basement at different times, but each time I went, I was told that I wasn't allowed inside."What's on your mind?" Theo asked, a kind smile on his face."I could use a drink," I replied, trying to keep my voice light. Theo was the bartender here. He was a friendly guy who worked part time. Theo nodded in understanding, his hands busy as he wiped the glass cups. "I wish I could serve you a drink," he said, "but you know how Margot is, she'd kill us if she found us drinking on the job""I know, I know," I said, a hint of disappointment in my voice.Theo gave me a sympathetic look. "Maybe if you'd tell me what's troubling you I could help" He said and bent forward on the counter. "A problem shared is a problem half solved." "I can't." I said with a sigh and placed my head on the counter."Poor Mariana." He said and patted my head before he went back to clean the glasses.My t
(Lorenzo)My mind flashbacked to my visit at the club the other day. I went to talk to Margot if she must have heard anything."Wait,what. You think someone's derailing you." She asked surprised by my suspicions."Yes Margot. There's something more to this. Another one of my shipments got sabotaged again, my gun shipments. It's hard to ignore now""Why don't you want to believe it is as the blood crust boys? They could be lying you know""I know but they aren't. The last man we captured at the scene of the last sabotage, he looked himself Marge, Cyanide.""Cyanide!" She exclaimed"Yup. Why would he kill himself if he wasn't trying to hide something important""You're right. It's getting really fishy. Don't worry I'll keep my ears out for anything suspicious I hear at the club""Yeah. Thanks Marge."She was just as clueless as I was. I roughened my hair in frustration, this wild goose chase was getting the better of me. I stood up and headed for the coffee machine and poured myself wha
(Mariana)The club was its usual busy self tonight. There were people everywhere. The music was really loud, the bass line thrummed through the floor, reverberating through my chest. The air was thick with the scent of perfume and smoke, and the heat of the bodies packed in the room was suffocating. I had been running up and down serving drinks. I didn't even have space to breathe. As I made my way through the crowded room, I weaved between tables and people, balancing a tray of drinks on my arm. I was used to the hustle and bustle of the club, but tonight it felt especially hectic. I kept my head down, trying to avoid eye contact with anyone, just focused on getting the drinks to their tables.But as I made my way to the other side of the room, I heard a voice calling my name."Mariana! VIP lounge 5. They need margaritas and whiskey" A girl yelled through the crowd"Coming right up!" I yelled back. The music was really loud so we could hardly hear ourselves. I ran over to the bar si
(Lorenzo)The sound of glass shattering filled the room. I looked up and saw Mariana, her eyes were wide in surprise, her mouth opened but nothing came out. She stared at Montez then back at me, her eyes darted to the knife in my hand. I didn't like the way she looked at me. Her expression changed from shock to fear, her eyes fixated on the knife. I could see the wheels turning in her head as she tried to make sense of what had just happened. She opened her mouth to say something but nothing came out. Giovanni headed towards her and shoved her out of the room. He locked the door and returned back to where he was, and unbothered look on his face"I thought you locked the doors!" I yelled at Giovanni"I did" Giovanni replied " I thought I did""How could you be so reckless Giovanni. What if someone else entered hmm" I said to him, anger very clear in voice. Giovanni looked at me ,confused by my outburst. I wouldn't have cared if it was anyone who entered but this was Mariana. I didn't
(Mariana)I was running through the forest,my heart was pounding in my chest as I tried to escape the shadowy figure that pursued me. I tripped on a branch and fell hard to the floor. I struggled to get up but it was already right behind me. I could feel its breath on my neck and the cold grip of its hand on my shoulder. I tried to scream but nothing came out. It was like my voice was gone. I looked closer and saw it was Lorenzo. His eyes were pure black and he had blood on his hands and on his face. "Mariana" he whispered close to my ear which gave me goosebumps on my skin. He smiled at me showing his fangs. He brings out a knife from his pocket and trailed it down my body.I tried to move, to fight back, but I was frozen in place, unable to move a muscle. Lorenzo leaned in close, his black eyes piercing into mine. His voice was soft, but there was a sinister edge to it. "You're mine now, Mariana," he whispered. "I've been waiting for this moment for so long. You're mine, and you al
(Lorenzo)It’s been two months. Two whole months of peace. The best two months of my fucking life. I had never felt peace the way I’ve felt in the past months.I lay on the bed cuddling with her. Our legs entwined as she runs her hand across my chest.“I want to tell you something babe.” She sits up and moves a bit further from me. Missing her touch immediately, I scoot over, closer to her and she moves away. This sends signals to me immediately. “What’s wrong? Did something happen? Did I do something wrong?” Fear grips me as I wonder what I could have done wrong to hurt her. Instead of making assumptions in my head and overthinking, I allow her to feel comfortable enough to say whatever it is. Resolving that I will try my very best to make her happy again. “I’ve been keeping something from you for a while now. I’ve been so scared to open up and if I had told you before leaving, I’m pretty sure I’d have regretted it. But now I’ve been thinking and I feel like I’m in trouble and I hav
(Lorenzo) I watch as she enters the car and leaves. There goes the one person I ever hoped to love. There’s nothing else I can do but watch her slip away from me as the car takes her further than my eyes could see. I’ve been successful at many things, but given my profession, it is no surprise that I’ve failed at love. The thought of entering my car and chasing after her rushes through my mind but I dismiss it immediately. She has to go. Staying would get her killed and I cannot bear to see that. Instead, I decide to drive to the club and get me a drink. Nothing helps better than a bottle of bourbon down my throat while wallowing in self pity. I dare Gio to come yammering about how this is going to lead to our ruin. I enter my car and begin the long drowning drive to the club, all the while trying not to dwell on the scent of her on the passenger sit. This is going to be a long year. I might as well change my car, having it sprayed won’t do me any good. I’d still look at the pass
(Mariana)"Are you all set?" Lorenzo and I are standing in front of a mall where he spent all the time shopping clothes and various other accessories for me like shoes and jewelries and all those stuff.In my hand, I hold the suitcase that has all the clothes we bought and in his hands, he carries two shopping bags where the rest of the things are contained."I'm ready." I reply."Okay. I've also sent some money into your account as well. Only a quarter of it, the sum of your salary.""For working only a day in your club?" I cover my mouth as if it helps to reduce my chuckle."It wasn’t for free, was it?" He smiles, joining in on the amusement."Thank you." I say and hug him. "I didn't think I'll say this, but I'll miss you." I feel his hands circle around me and there's so much tenderness in the way his hand rests around my waist and back."I'll miss you, too." Then, he stops a taxi for me and I get in, waving him goodbye. His eyes are watery with tears but I think I've imagined it a
(Mariana)"Lorenzo, why are you back?"Lorenzo walks towards me like every others and checks for my temperature. "I heard you were sick and I couldn't wait any longer." He confesses, his voice edged with worry.His statement marvels me. "Was your business trip not that important that you will return the same day instead of in three days?"You're more important to me, Mariana. Than anything else in this world right now, and I can't seem to ignore that fact."My cheeks redden and I gather all the strength in me not to smile, but it's futile and I simply hide my face by looking down at my laps as a result of feeling bashful. "I don't understand." My voice is low and my cheeks are hot. "I thought you said you don't want a wife.""But I want you, Mariana." He answers, fast and sits down next to me to glide fingers through my hair, massaging gently and tracing tender lines.An electrifying jolt runs through my skin uncontrollably in response and I lean into him, resting my head on his shoul
(Lorenzo) “Gio, call the boys. Gather as much as you can. They have to be with Mariana 24/7. She’s in danger as long as she’s with me and until I find the fucker who’s responsible for this, I need to know that she’s safe.” “ I warned you, this was bound to happen sooner or later. You know how these things end up. You should have let her go when she had the chance to escape. She would have died today, and what would you have done? Wage war on whoever did this? What then? Does that bring her back? Then you’d wallow in self pity, your rivals will see your point of weakness and take us all down.” “What the fuck Gio! You think I don’t know that? Yes I know it’s all my fault and she’s in there terrified and possibly traumatized because of me. I knew she was not meant for this life but still I’ve been selfish about it. Hell I found the fucker who killed her parents and I’m still hiding it because I cannot let her go! So I don’t need you to tell me things I already know. Instead, you can
(Mariana)I wake up to find myself crying on the bed and curled up in a way that felt as though I could fit inside a little box. I'm hugging my knees to my chest and I'm thinking about last night. Everything is forcing me to demolish my love for Lorenzo.Can I not love someone in peace? And why did it have to be him? Fine, he had a good reason not to want a wife and child, but it was beginning to get clear that he had feelings for me, also because why the hell was he going through such lengths for me? The talk about him willing to marry me, discreetly?I shake my head to myself. No, no, no, it didn't change the fact that his life was a risk to mine. I could have been shot alongside with him last night and that could have been the worst part. It could have been at my stomach and I would have been bleeding seriously. I would have lost the baby in the most horrible way possible. And what not next? My death.I would have died last night. I still can't shake the feeling off. The feeling of
(Lorenzo) I watch as she storms into the house not bothering to spare me another glance. I messed up, I knew that but then I wondered why she brought it up. If only she knew the story of my childhood she’d understand. But I cannot tell her that, not yet, I needed to tell her everything and show her everything about my world before that so she can understand why I cannot let it go. The silence in the car threatened to swallow me up, half of me wished she’d come back but that was a very unlikely. There had to be something I could do to make it up to her, there’s no way I’m letting her go to bed in a bad mood. The problem is I don’t even know how to deal with girls and their emotions, this meant seeking help from the last person I wanted to call. I picked up the phone and dialed Giovanni’s number. He picked up almost immediately.“Boss.”“Gio…hey, man.”“What’s the matter? You sound really dull.”“Uh I got into a fight with Mariana. And I’m thinking of making it up to her. What do you
(Mariana)"You can do this Mariana."I keep motivating myself for work, but Giovanni just has to ruin everything."... and Princess, it's nice to see you didn't chicken out." His voice rings in my head as I leave him and Lorenzo behind to get on with their usual business.I know what he's trying to do. He wants me to be scared and lose courage. And I know it's not going to be easy for him to readily accept me as a Margot replacement, never minding that she had eventually betrayed them, but I'm determined not to give him want he wants.The thought of Margot watching me from the afterlife baffles me because it sends a shiver up my spine. She would definitely consider it an insult. It's even worse when I get to the office because now it looks neater that I've ever met it and more empty than I've ever seen it.Margot's things are gone. God knows where they were taken. There are still some files left on the table and I assume they are files connected to the club itself. I approach the chai
(Lorenzo)I drive Mariana back to the club and ensure that she is settled in her new office, she had a determined and fierce look throughout the drive, a facade to lead me to believe she was not nervous about the job. I decided not to make things worse by pressing the issue by asking her questions.It hurt how much she wanted to hate me. Sometimes I believed she really did. I understand my ways were not what she approved. I’d explain to her I had no choice growing up, that I was born into this life but I knew better. It would only anger her more and I am already on thin ice. Seeing her sleep so peacefully this morning melted me. I had always thought I would never fall in love with anyone.The kind of life I led did not require weak points like wives and children. I was not a loved child and the marriage between my parents was proof enough to know that being married with kids was cruelty to them as they would become targets all their lives. I had always guarded my heart against it, I h