Chapter 2 What Looms In The Dark

Alice got out of the rickety car, gasping repeatedly. Her best friend, Chiara Niccolo, followed next—a pretty, blue-eyed damsel.

"You're lucky I was driving by when you called. You could have gotten caught, for fuck's sake," Chiara reprimanded.

Alice had managed to change out of the black getup in the car; now she wore a simple blue gown and had her dark brown hair tied in a neat ponytail. The bag containing the gold was slung over one shoulder as she stared back at Chiara with her emerald green eyes.

"Lucky me. Thanks, though," Alice said, and Chiara smiled back at her. She got back into the car, and it took quite some time before she could get the engine running again. She drove off afterward.

Alice sighed and turned to face the large building in front of her. It was heavily fenced, making it a 'no-go zone' for intruders—Vicenzo Empire. If the mafia world had a king, it would be the Don of Vicenzo. The Vicenzo mafia empire was first in terms of rank, wealth, and affluence.

Alice walked toward the building and pushed the button by the side of the wall. The gate opened, and she entered with ease. She had free access to the empire simply because her father was the Capo—a high-ranking member of the Vicenzo empire who oversees a group of soldiers or associates.

Alice made her way to her father's chambers and entered his luxuriously appointed room. She made herself comfortable on the bed. Her father, due to his higher rank, had been allocated a room in the empire.

Sergio Antonio, an average-looking man with almost bald hair, punched the security code to access his room. An approval beep was heard, and Sergio pushed the door open.

His eyes widened when he saw Alice seated on the bed with her legs crossed.

"Father," Alice beamed as she got up to meet him.

"What are you doing here? I told you to go directly to the house," Sergio said, and Alice smiled.

"I need money, and there's none at home," Alice winked.

Sergio rolled his eyes and rubbed his forehead with his hand. "Where is it?" Sergio asked, and Alice threw the backpack at him.

Sergio easily caught it and unzipped it. His eyes twinkled with approval when he saw the three gold bars.

"You've done well. I'm sure your mother would be proud," Sergio said, and Alice hummed nonchalantly.

Sergio took out some cash from his cupboard and tossed the bundle to her. "Twenty thousand dollars. Enjoy," Sergio said.

Alice smirked as she ran her thumb through the money. "I'm out," Alice said. She opened the door and saw Sergio's right-hand man standing outside. Alice ignored him and walked away.

Matthias entered the room and bowed to Sergio respectfully. "Boss," Matthias said, and Sergio nodded.

"This is her 50th escape from the cops, and she always manages to steal the item. She's a great fighter as well because you trained her well. Why not move her position from being an Associate to one of the soldiers of the empire?" Matthias suggested, but his opinion was shut down with a glare from Sergio.

"I might just have to cut your tongue and serve it to your wife for supper," Sergio glared at him. He wouldn’t, though. Aside from the fact that Matthias was his trusted soldier, he was in an incredibly good mood. As always, Alice didn’t disappoint him.

……

In a dark, lonely cemetery, Alice stood in front of a headstone engraved with 'Alessia Francesco.' She held a bottle of champagne in one hand and a glass cup in the other.

She fell to her knees in front of her mother’s grave. Her mother had been cruelly taken from her; Alice had witnessed her murder. She had been there when the ruthless mafia stabbed her mother in the chest repeatedly. She was only eight at the time. Her mother’s murderer would have killed her as well if she hadn’t run as fast as her tiny legs could carry her. If Sergio hadn’t found her in time, she would have been dead. Sergio wasn’t her biological father; her father had died before she was born.

Since the day Sergio saved her, she saw him as her father, and he saw her as a daughter—provided she didn’t mess up her missions. Although she wasn’t proud of being a criminal, it was what Sergio wanted, and she had to follow his orders until she got her revenge.

She was determined to find her mother’s murderer and kill him with her own two hands. Afterward, she planned to join her mother in the afterlife. She was willing to shake hands with the devil if that was what it took to get the revenge her mother deserved.

"Congratulations, Mother. It’s your 13th death anniversary, and I promise you that I will get revenge on the bastard who took you away from me. We’ll be reunited soon," Alice said sadly as she drank from the glass of champagne.

Her mother might not be proud of how she turned out, but it was what life handed her, and it didn’t give her any other option but to take it.

After spending three more hours with her mother, Alice got up and began heading toward the cemetery's exit.

She clutched her purse tightly when she heard the sound of someone tailing her. She hadn’t brought her gun or any weapon to defend herself because she knew her mother wouldn’t like that.

Alice swiftly turned, her brows furrowing when she saw no one. She stood alone in the dark cemetery. It was past midnight—way too late for someone to be visiting.

       Alice took two more steps, and then she felt someone hit her on the head with a heavy object. She could feel warm blood pouring from the wound as she weakly fell to her knees and then collapsed on the ground. The vision of the hooded person was blurry, and her eyes slowly closed as she succumbed to the darkness.