31

"Clara." I said softly and hugged her.

"I've had a crush on Silvano since he saved me when we were younger, but I know he will never feel the same for me. Heck, I'm nothing but an inconvenient bargain he has to keep for the sake of peace. And I hate it so much. It's been ten years, and my stupid heart still flutters when I see him when he's been cold to me. What is wrong with me?" She cried as she hugged me tighter.

"That's also why I wanted to run away from home because I was terrified of getting married to him. I can bear a loveless marriage; at least there would be no emotions attached. But, having a one-sided love, I'm not sure I can ever take it. I can't stand loving a man that I don't even exist to."

I quietly stroked her hair as she sobbed and soaked my blouse with her tears.

Oh, we were f*cked up, weren't we?

The men we both loved would never love us back, but we couldn't help loving them even more.

Birds of the same feathers really flocked together.

But hers was worse; I couldn't imagine being in love with a man that didn't give a flying sh*t about me. For ten f*cking years. No way!

But Clara had a large heart and a lot of love to give. It was so her coded, especially if he saved her life. Some might see it as a bad thing for her to be clinging to a man that helped her only once, but I knew my best friend.

If Clara was in love with him for this long, then there was a reason, a reason I couldn't see but still a reason.

But, poor her.

F*ck Silvano for not noticing such a sweetheart. He didn't deserve her.

I held her for a few more minutes until her sobs quietened to little sniffs.

"Feeling better now?" I asked as she let go of me, and she nodded.

"Yeah. I can't believe I'm ugly crying because of some guy. I feel so silly." Clara blushed as she wiped her eyes.

"Not your fault. Guys are like onions; they have a million layers, and they make you cry. They suck. Especially Dons." I pouted playfully.

"I can't argue with that." She giggled as she sat down on my bed.

"Since we're in the spirit of sharing secrets. I have another confession to make." I said with a strained smile.

"Did you commit arson or murder?" She joked, and her smile suddenly dropped. "You didn't make another deal with Lorenzo because of your date, did you?"

"No. No more deals with the devil. Never, ever. I'm not that crazy; have some faith in me." I huffed and rolled my eyes. "But I did get sort of involved with another mafia group."

"You did what?!" She gasped, and I winced.

"Wait before you jump to conclusions; it wasn't my fault." I quickly defended myself and crossed my arms over my chest. "Remember I told you about Pablo, Don of the Vipers, my frequent patron, right? Well, his son, Michael, came to the club some days ago. Apparently, his mother wanted to know the wench that was stealing her husband's attention."

"Not Michael and Beatrice. Those two are trouble. Pablo is a good guy, well, as good as a mafia don can be, but his wife and son, they are terrible. I never liked them one day. Michael is always creepy and psychotic, and Beatrice, well, she's a witch." She complained and rolled her eyes.

"I don't know Beatrice, but you're right about Michael; he's insane." I replied and plopped down beside her. "Can you believe he asked me to move in with him because he deserved me and Lorenzo didn't?"

"No way. He didn't do that?" She grimaced, crinkling her nose.

"He did. He went into a full rant on how Lorenzo was a f*cker so he didn't deserve me. Like a full-blown madman rant. And then he gave me ten days to think about being his baby girl and moving in with him. I have never heard someone sound so insane in my life. He even grabbed my hands so hard that I thought he was going to break them. I was this close to punching his nose." I huffed and pinched my thumb and index finger to emphasise my last statement.

"That's bad. That's really, really bad. You should tell Lorenzo he tried to hurt you. I'm sure he'll ban him from the club." She frowned as worry flickered in her eyes.

"That would be going too far. The two already have bad blood between themselves, but Pablo is still Lorenzo's friend. I don't want to be in the centre of a complicated issue. And it's not like he actually hurt me. My hands were fine the moment he left." I sighed as I kicked off my shoes and lay flat on the bed.

"I guess you're right. But if you met him again and he tries anything, I'm reporting him to Lorenzo myself." She grumbled and lay beside me. "And you should try to avoid Michael; he has a strange obsession and hatred for Lorenzo. I don't think there has ever been a time when he didn't try to prove he was better than him. I'm sure that's why he's interested in you."

"You don't have to tell me twice. I'm going to avoid him like a f*cking plague." I replied.

Clara and I lay quietly side-by-side for a few minutes, staring at the ceiling until she cleared her throat.

"Yes," I replied as she turned to face me, but I kept staring up.

"Were you... did you consider Michael's offer? I'm not angry, nor can I blame you if you were. I mean, it would be your ticket out of here. You'll have the protection of another mafia group, so Lorenzo won't be able to hunt you down, and even though Michael is crazy, I'm sure you can manage him because I heard he is good to his girlfriends that were good to him. You could be free from all this, and maybe you'll forget about your feelings for Lorenzo and you'll be happy to live your life. I won't be dragging you down with my mafia problem." She rambled, and I turned to face her.

"I'll be honest, I did think of it for a few seconds." I said, and her face turned gloomy.

"That was probably the dumbest few seconds of my life. How the hell will I leave you for that crazy man?" I grinned and touched her cheek. "I'm very happy being here with you, Clara, and with Lorenzo, even though he's an a**hole at times. And I'm keeping my promise of bursting you out of here so you won't have to marry Silvano."

"But you could die? What if we didn't escape? Lorenzo will kill you, and it will be my fault. I'd prefer that you were alive with Michael, no matter how strange he acts, than with me, dead." She sniffled as tears gathered in her eyes.

"I'll be fine, Clara. We'll both be fine. Trust me when I say we'll escape from this place. We'll move to another city or even country with our five million each. You'll be free from the mafia life to do whatever we want. You'll see. Just have a little bit of faith." I assured her as I brushed her tears from the bottom of her eyes.

"I hope you're right." She whispered and curled against my chest.

My fingers ran through her hair, and I bit my bottom lip.

I hoped I was right too.

I didn't want to die too, but with my current escape plan ideas... losing was almost becoming certain.