CHAPTER 1• The Offer.

Fifty million dollars. That was the offer on the table tonight. Enough to change Abigail's life forever—or ruin it completely.

"You’re meeting with Mr. Rizzo tonight?" Scarlett asked, stepping into Abigail's bedroom.

"Yup. He’s got a deal to offer me." Abigail answered, brushing a curl behind her ear.

"The one worth over fifty million?" Scarlett folded her arms, already suspicious.

"Correct." Abigail turned to look at her sister, who—unlike her, had brown hair. "Just imagine what that kind of money could do for us."

Scarlett frowned. "And you really think he’s giving you that for free?"

Abigail smirked. “Come on. You know how rich he is. Fifty million to him is pocket change.”

Scarlett didn’t look convinced, her voice dropped laced with something like fear. “You know the last girl who took Rizzo’s offer disappeared, right? No calls. No body. Nothing.”

Abigail paused for a second. Then she mentioned. "In different Scarlett. I can take care of myself." She replied masking how much her sister's word meant to her.

"I made dinner."

"I'm running late, sorry I can't..."

"Ahhh, you're unbelievable, Abby." Scarlett groaned as she walked out of the bedroom.

Abigail opened the drawer where her eyes met with the gleaming crest pendant. She didn't even know why she was still keeping the necklace instead of selling it and making themselves quite comfortable because she was sure the necklace might be worth thousands or even millions of dollars.

She closed the drawer, choosing not to wear the necklace that night.

After seeing herself in the mirror, Abigail knew how much prettier she always looked in such a skimpy dress as this.

She stood up, as she slung her green mini bag over to her shoulder as she walked out of her bedroom.

"I'd be on my way, Scarlett." She called out as soon as she walked into the living room.

"Be careful! Call if anything goes wrong, babe." Scarlett shouted from the kitchen.

"Okay!" Abigail responded as she walked out of the house.

The Uber that she had asked Scarlett to order had already arrived. She walked over to the car and slid in, shutting the car door from behind, and the driver drove off.

Unlike every other night, when she went to a club to pole-dance or give lap dances to wealthy clients. This time, she was on her way to what responsible ones would call a business meeting, but she wasn't even dressed like one going to a business meeting; she still kept her stripper facade.

Mr. Rizzo, whom she had known for months, might want something else after discussing whatever with her.

The Uber driver suddenly pulled to a stop and when Abigail took her gaze away from her phone, she realized they already arrived at the hotel where she was to meet the man.

"I'll be making a transfer," Abigail told the man as she paid for her charges via a bank app.

She alighted from the car and went ahead to texting Scarlett, a worried 'mommy' as she always addressed her that she had already arrived at where she was to meet with Mr. Rizzo, and it took a few seconds for Scarlett to text back that she shouldn't stay out late.

"Hello?" Someone called, and Abigail raised her head to glance at the person who demanded her attention. "Miss Abigail Fothergill?" The man dressed in a black suit asked.

"Yes?"

"Mr. Rizzo asked me to escort you." He said, and Abigail nodded a bit as she threw her phone into her bag.

"Okay?"

She followed the man into the hotel, where they headed for the elevator. As soon as the elevator opened, the man continued to escort Abigail until they arrived at a door where two men dressed as bodyguards stood, and the man who had escorted her instructed that she go in as that was where Mr. Rizzo was.

Abigail opened the door and walked into the room that looked like a dining, or was it?

A long table with a variety of foods and drinks. Mr. Rizzo wasn't even the only one in the room... There were equally men who were seated with the same aura as Rizzo, all looking as though they were his allies.

"We've been waiting for you." Mr. Rizzo called and Abigail smiled a little at the man in his late sixties. "Please have your seat." He gestured to an empty chair, with his Russian accent as pronounced as his surname.

Abigail had her seat, trying not to seem dumbfounded by the atmosphere of the room. She had thought she was just going to meet Rizzo alone but she hadn't even imagined to meet these men staring at her as though she was some kind of hope to their syndicate from not falling or something.

"Let me officially introduce myself to you." Mr. Rizzo started. "As you already know me for the past month, I'm wealthy enough to give you the money I promised if you get a task settled."

"I'll get it settled," Abigail replied almost interrupting him.

Mr. Rizzo smirked. "Yeah, that's why I chose you instead of your sister who ran away with you from her parents---"

"I'd appreciate you continue." Abigail cuts in, and the rest of the men present dare to glance at her as if questioning her audacity. But she wouldn't tolerate hearing the man stylishly insulting Scarlett.

For sure, he didn't like Scarlett, and neither did Scarlett—she never liked Mr. Rizzo. She said the way he looked at people gave her chills. Abigail didn’t care. She was tired of scraping by—tired of pretending she was safe when they both knew safety was an illusion.

"We are not just typical business people. We are part of the Russian Mafia, and we are the Morano crime family." As he said this, a sly smile spread across Abigail's face as she crossed her legs.

"Interesting. Nice to meet you, families." She greeted the people present more formally now. "So what does the Moranos want from me?"

"Nothin' much..." Another man chipped in; he was seated beside Mr. Rizzo. "You won't be working at the cheap club anymore and will be moving out of Los Angeles to LUST strip club in New York. More details will follow thereafter." The man who seemed like a right-hand man gave out the instructions.

"Working at LUST isn't a bad thing, it's really hard to even be a customer there not to talk about being a worker..." She paused. "But I do wonder what will be my mission if I started working there." She leaned forward. "To have s*x with maybe an enemy of yours and get it videoed?"

"We appreciate your zeal, Abigail. But it will be better if you don't get ahead of yourself." The man who had spoken said like a warning.

"You are already part of us Abigail, no backing out. Someone will be picking you up tomorrow, and you aren't permitted to take anyone along."

“Not even Scarlett?” Abigail asked, eyes narrowing.

Rizzo's grin dropped. “Especially not Scarlett.”

Something in his tone chilled her—but it was too late to walk away now.