PRESENT DAY
Klara
(PoV)After over an hour of driving he makes me turn into what seems like the entrance of some winery and we start making our way through a narrow gravel road. A large house starts to come into view, wait no, did I say house? Sorry, what I meant to say was a large Ass mansion.
I park infront of it and turn to look at Adriano. "Get out" he says rudely, jumping off himself. Once outside he starts texting for a couple of minutes before noticing I'm still in the car. "I.....said....get....out" he says slowly accentuating each word as if I'm a child. Annoyed at his antics I flip my hair and face the opposite direction, crossing my arms.
"Hello? Are you deaf, I said Get Out!" He says, obviously irritated at me. "No" I reply not saying anything more. There is no way I would ever let a guy treat me that way! "You know I can make you come out, right?" He sighs rolling his eyes. "You know I don't care, 'right?' " I reply still not facing him
"God, Klara why do you have to be so difficult?" He sighs, shaking his head
"I'm being Difficult? " I snap at him. "Your the one who tried to kidnap me at the cafe this morning!" I go on, furious "oh, don't be so dramatic" he says rolling his eyes for like the hundredth time."Shut up and let me finish!" I say losing my temper and storming out of the car to push him.He stumbles back a few times, caught off guard, "fine, I'm listening " he says holding up his arms in surrender."And then you-you shoved your gun in my face and threatened to shoot me!" I continued
"Ya, but if we're being fair, me saving you from certain death kinda cancels that out" he interrupts, lifting his eyebrows in a 'duh' expression. "SHUT UP!" I scream approaching him again, but before I reach him, he holds his hands up and mocks me by pretending to zip his mouth shut, then gestures for me to continue."And, and!" I say continuing with my rant. "Then you put me in these stupid handcuffs, force me to drive to one of your stupid houses, and then yell at me to get out of that stupid car, basically treating me like shit the entire time! And then you have the audacity to tell me to stop being so dramatic. DRAMATIC!! So tell me 'Oh Wise One ' What do you have to say for yourself?! Huh??" I say breathing heavily, trying to catch my breath after my rant. I stare at him waiting for a response, but he just stares back at me as if dumb struck by my revelations.
"Well, if we're being technical, technically the Russians were the ones who put the handcuffs on you" he finally adds, smirking like the arrogant asshole he is.
"You're impossible" I sigh, shaking my head in disbelief as I walk past him, making sure to bump him on my way to the house. How did my life turn out like this I wonder, thinking back to the night it all started.3 YEARS AGO
Klara
(PoV)NIGHT OF MARDI GRAS
19:00PM[Song: CHARLESTON - Jazz NEW ORLEANS]After One month of meticulously planning exactly how I was going to sneak out (with the help of Annie of course) I was finally ready to go to Mardi Gras!
Being at the festival felt almost surreal. When I entered bourbon Street, I was instantly greeted by the electric atmosphere that seemed to have taken over the French Quarter. Melodious music filled my ears as the jazzy street musicians competed against the parades marching bands for the crowds attention.
Overwhelmed by the crowd that now seemed to surround me. I searched for my friends amongst all the different masks and costumes.Eventually I spotted Igor, the son of my fathers friend Rocco (and my♡crush) across the street with his friends.
They were standing under one of the many balconies overlooking the French Quarter.The Streets themselves were teeming with people embracing the spirit of carnival and I breifly gazed across the other side of the road, trying to mentally map out a route through the maze of half-drunk party goers.
I struggled to make my way to the other side of the street. Carefully trying to avoid all of the parades floats and dancers. All of sudden the loud horn of a car jolted me back, causing me to knock into a float and fall down.Sore and embarrassed, I angrily look up to see the cause of my misery. And the most gorgeous blue-green eyes locked with mine, entrancing me.
"What the hell are you doing in the middle of the road?!!" Mr gorgeous eyes roars, breaking my trance and causing me to flinch. What a jerk I think to myself as I finally get across. He's the one in the wrong, everyone knows cars aren't allowed to drive on the main street during Mardi Gras!
PRESENT DAY
Klara
(PoV)[Song: Bad Things - Machine Gun Kelly, Camila Cabello]
As we enter the huge mansion, I push Adriano against a wall. "I want these damn hand cuffs off" I demand, glaring at him. "I don't know, I think I like you all tied up" he replies looking up, pretending to consider my request. " I'm serious" I add. "So am I" he says huskily, flipping me around so that now I'm the one pushed against the wall.
Feeling way too vulnerable in our new position, I try to push him away. "Get off me" "Now!" I say trying to keep my voice neutral and hide how uncomfortable I feel."Or what?" He asks pinning my wrists above my head.
"Really" I roll my eyes "What?" He asks chuckling at my response. "Do you really want to go through all of this again? You trying to kiss me, me making you stop...."I sigh out, not bothering to finish the rest."How do you know you'll want me to stop?""Because you're a jerk" I reply "Ouch!" He says dramatically, clutching his chest. Before turning his attention back to me."Can you honestly tell me you don't feel the burning chemistry we have?" He continues placing his forehead against mine. "hmm?""Are you saying you don't feel anything when I do this." He says, as he moves his head lower, his lips becoming dangerously close to mine."Nope" I say. "Not a thing" I assure him further, closing my eyes so he can't look into them."Liar" he whispers back accusingly, making me want to change the subject."My wrists" I say in a desperate attempt to avoid my feelings."What about them?" He asks, acting confused. "They hurt" I wine.
"Aww, my poor baby!" He says pouting. "You want me to kiss them better?" He questions, wriggling his eyebrows at me. "No, I want you to take the hand cuffs off" I say irritated."So? what will you do for me if I do?" He asks dangerously, repeating the same question as earlier. "Not kill you" I answer making his eyes widen in surprise with my unexpected reply.Then he just bursts out laughing and takes a couple of steps back releasing me. Tired of playing his stupid game, I head towards the door. Deciding that I will be better off getting rid of these damn things off myself. After all he obviously has no intention of helping me.
As I open the door to leave, it suddenly shuts again.
A large hand slams against it just above my head making me flinch. Soon a second hand wraps around my waist. And a large body smooshes mine against the door making it hard for me to breathe."What happened to ' 'I'll do anything thing for you Adriano' ' huh? " He asks quoting me in a sing song voice. His breath tickling the skin of my neck as it fans my hair, giving me butterflies.
"Or maybe I need my gun to make you behave?" He threatens, infuriating me.Obviously he's angry because I tried to leave, but nobody talks to me like that!"Go F*CK yourself!" I scream at him, using my body to try and twist so that I can use my legs to knee him in the thigh. Unprepared for my attack he loses his balance and falls.Finally I have an opportunity to escape, but I'm too angry to take it.
No one gets away with talking to me like that!And well, you know..........I kinda still need that key form him....so."Give me the keys" I demand, forcefully trying to get them from the now enraged man, but ending up getting dragged to the floor. We struggle with each other for a few minutes, each one trying to get the upper hand.
At one point I even manage to get ahold of the keys and almost free myself, but Adriano being Adriano annoyingly takes back control. Pushing me face first into the floor, he painfully twists my arms behind my back. Stopping me from striking his face.
"Ouch!" "You're hurting me" I complain, making him instantly let go of me.
"I'm sorry" he says, looking genuinely apologetic.I freeze, staring at him shocked by his apology. "Are you ok??" He asks, shocking me even more by unlocking my hand cuffs.He gently helps me out of them while, I just sit there like an idiot blankly staring at him."Klara?" He says trying to get my attention back."Yes?" I ask absently.
"Are you hurt?" He asks caringly as he massages my wrists."What?......um...ya...I-I mean no" I mumble shaking my head. "Wait, what did you say??" I ask, looking up at him like a lost puppy, my dark eyes silently questioning his."Let me check if you have a concussion" he says worriedly, shoving one of his fingers in my face before telling me to follow it with my eyes.Screw him I think to myself, shaking myself out of my hypnotic state as I shove his hand away.
Screw him for trying to mess with my feelings.I'm supposed to hate him for God's sake! Why in the hell does he have to confuse me with his ' ' I'm sorries ' ' and by constantly pretending to care about me. Frustrated I get up off the floor wanting to be as far away from him as possible.He doesn't really care about me.
Does he? No, I can't be thinking about him like this. I have a bloody assignment to complete!I can't let him mess with my head, no, he already threatened everything by coming for me early.
Plus, Emilio will contact me in a few days. F*ck! I don't even have any intel to give him. I need to improvise and come up with a make shift plan. I have 2 days to find out everything about Adriano and his business, 2 days or I'm screwed. "Truce" Adriano says jerking me from my thoughts. "Truce" I agree, lying to his face. Smiling, I offer him my hand.Sorry Babe I think as I help him up from the floor, I made a deal with the devil and it's your soul that he wants..................[Song: Black widow - Iggy Azalea feat. Rita Ora]
Chapter 20 — "The Tension Grows"3 YEARS AGOAnnie's POVNIGHT OF MARDI GRAS02:20 AMThe cold, lifeless body of Father Donnaly is heavy on top of me, the blood soaking through my clothes as I push him off with all my strength. The sound of his body hitting the floor echoes in the silent Church, and I freeze. My heartbeat is deafening in my ears, and I struggle to breathe. I glance around frantically, my eyes darting between the dark corners of the Church, expecting to see more shadows creeping toward me.I need to get out.With a surge of panic, I scramble to my feet, pushing away the horrific sight of the blood-soaked confessional booth and the priest’s body. I can’t look at him again. Not now. I turn toward the back door, but my foot slips in the pool of blood on the floor. My legs give way, and I stumble, catching myself on one of the pews.“Come on, Annie,” I mutter under my breath, wiping away the tears that threaten to fall. I can’t let myself fall apart now. I’m so close to es
3 YEARS AGO MATTEO'S POV NIGHT OF MARDI GRAS02:20amJust before Father Donnaly reaches for the bag he carried up earlier, I manage to grab him and yank him backwards where he lands face first on the Church floor."Aahh!" "Hellppp" he screams, trying to alert who ever else is in the Church with him.Annoyed at my inability to keep him quiet, I angrily grab one of the pointy brass candle stick holders and stab it directly into Father Donnaly's Left eye, causing him to scream in pain."Aaahhhhh" he shreiks, blood spurting out from his empty eye socket, as I yank out the candle holder along with his eyeball."What's that noise?" I hear a couple men shout from the Church basement.Before they get up the stairs, I quickly slit father Donnaly's throat
3 YEARS AGO MATTEO'S POV NIGHT OF MARDI GRAS 02:00AMEverything is deathly quiet as I turn into the Church parking lot, which is completely empty except for an old maroon golf someone probably abandoned.Smiling, I enter the Church, thinking about all the jokes Adriano use to make about me catching fire if I ever were to enter one.Guess God still thinks my soul can be saved I think bitterly, but that will probably change by the time I leave.....because I have always been and will always be a killer. Nothing can change that.As soon as I enter I see a priest walking up from what I assume to be the Church basement.As soon as his eyes meet mine they widen in shock and he
3 YEARS AGOANNIE'S POVNIGHT OF MARDI GRAS02:00AMBy the time I arrive at the Saint Louis Church it's already almost 02:00am and roads around are all extremely quiet, I guess living on the outskirts of town didn't help much.Once I park in the empty parking lot outside the Church, I quickly jump off and head in towards the Church."Klara?, Klara?" I whisper, trying to find her.The Church is giving off an eerie feel and I feel like I'm in a horror movie. Gulping down my fear I force myself to open the giant Church door. It makes a creaking sound as I open it, bringing attention to the fact that the Church is completely empty. "Klara?" I whisper again, so softly I doubt she would here me if she actually is here. As I walk between the pews to the front of the Church I hear someone. " No you idiot! unload them first! Are you trying to shoot someone!!" I hear a man
**Hey guys,I am so sorry I have not been uploading this book often but, recently I have been going through some personal issues...as such this chapter is going to be quite short, but from tommorow I will be updating daily :) thank you guys so much for your support and comments it really means alot to me.3 YEARS AGO Adriano’s(PoV)NIGHT OF MARDI GRAS 02:00am"Where's Guzman and Andres?" Matteo asks, only now noticing the absence of our missing companions. "They had to sort something's out with an officer" I reply vaguely. "I told you that you should have just let me bribe them, we would have already had the police in our pockets by now if you hadn't stopped me." "Bribes cause greed, blackmail creates loyalty" I remind my brother, making him shake his head and walk away. But, despite my brothers reservations, I know from presonal experience that blackmail is way more powerfu
3 YEARS AGOAnnie(PoV)NIGHT OF MARDI GRAS11:45pm“shit! I think staring at my phone, it’s almost 12 already. I felt so guilty bailing on Klara and even more guilty, about not being able to tell her why I bailed.I thought that I would still be able to make it after picking my mom up from the hospital, but it took longer than I expected it to, and it didn’t help that she was so drunk.“Klara’s probably home by now” I think out loud to myself. Maybe I should phone to apologise, I think, still feeling guilty.Nervously, I start to dial her number.“Hello”, she answers. “Omg, Klara I’m so sorry I couldn’t come, I swear I was going to but, it’s just………something came up” I blurt out all at once without taking a breath.“I don’t want to hear it Annie” She yells though the phone, making me flinch.“I’m sorry Klara, honestly and besides at least you got to spend time with Igor” I remind, trying to