Masuk"Get out, you fucking bitch!" Marcus barked harshly, shoving his steel-hard dick back into his pants, fumbling slightly as he reached for his trousers. His voice was sharp and dangerous, dripping with frustration and desire left unsatisfied.
Raven stood still, trembling. Something about what she’d just witnessed stirred something deep inside her. The scent of sweat and lust still hung heavy in the air. Her body betrayed her, a wave of wetness pooling between her thighs. Her nipples hardened, brushing against the thin fabric of her blouse. She shouldn’t feel this, not about him. Not about Marcus Gonzales.
But damn it, she did.
She clutched her arms around herself, confused and ashamed. Why am I imagining him holding me the same way? Touching me the same way? Why do I wish it was me beneath him, moaning his name?
No, she screamed inside. I can’t feel this. I’m a servant. Just a servant, and I have my lover.
But what I just saw is driving a strong sensation through my body, flicking up frisson.
"I’m sorry, sir," she said softly, biting her lips as she lowered her gaze in shame. "I’ll get a mop and tidy up the room. I... I actually knocked, but the music was too loud."
Her voice was low and shaking, cheeks flushed pink.
Marcus evaded his eyes from hers and said blankly, "Then do that. Now!" he muttered, buttoning his trousers and turning away from her.
Raven quickly turned, leaving the room, but her legs wobbled as she walked. Her heart was racing, her body tingling. She returned with a cleaning stick and a packer, cleaning up the mess quietly. Her fingers moved swiftly, but her mind was still replaying the image of Marcus’s naked body, the raw lust in his voice, the size of his dick. So big... so damn big.
As she finished mopping and turned to leave, Marcus grabbed his phone. His voice was colder and dangerous.
"Fuck. She ruined it," he muttered under his breath. "I still need to fuck someone tonight." He grit his teeth, shooting a deadly glare at her.
He dialed a number quickly.
"Mrs. Anne," he said when the call connected. "Get me two of your best sluts tonight. Yeah, I want a threesome. Send them to one of the VIP rooms in the club."
He ended the call without waiting for her reply,
And stomped out of the house swiftly.
Raven didn’t wait another second. She picked her things and slipped out of the room, shutting the door softly behind her.
She hurried to the servants’ quarters, still flushed and breathless. Her friend Franca was folding some laundry when she walked in.
Raven placed her hands on the wall for support, feeling her breath being yanked out.
Franca, who had been watching her friend’s strange behavior, couldn’t help but ask,
"You’ve been acting strange since you came back from Marcus’s room," Franca said, frowning. "Are you sure you’re okay?"
Raven hesitated, crossing her arms tightly over her chest. "Yeah... I’m fine. Just... a little headache. I think I miss my boyfriend, that’s all."
Franca raised an eyebrow and gave her a playful smirk. "Oh, lover girl... Don’t worry. The weekend’s just around the corner. You’ll see him soon." She teased.
Raven forced a smile. "Yeah, that’s true."
But deep down, she knew it wasn’t her boyfriend she was aching for.
Later that evening, the grand dining hall of the Gonzales mansion was bathed in gold light. The family was gathered for dinner, dressed in quiet elegance, and the air was thick with authority.
As always, the servants took their places to serve. Raven and Franca moved swiftly, placing wine glasses and dishing meals with trained grace on the table.
Marcus was seated to the right of Don Gonzales, drinking a glass of scotch lazily. His eyes bore boredom, already having the instance to go out of the house to Club Inferno, the luxurious, exclusive strip club run by Mrs. Anne. The place was famous for its strip dancers and dark pleasures.
Just as Raven leaned forward to place a cup beside him, her boobs brushed his back slightly. The light touch sent a spark straight to her core, and she gasped quietly. A small drip of wetness escaped, dampening her panties. Her body was burning, reacting against her will.
No... stop it, Raven... stop this madness... she said within herself.
But Franca noticed.
The way her friend’s breath hitched, the way she froze for a second too long.
As soon as they finished serving, Raven bowed respectfully before turning to leave. Franca caught her hand and quickly pulled her into their room.
"Alright. Spill," Franca whispered sharply. "What’s going on with you?"
Raven bit her lip hard, eyes laced with confusion and shame, and sat down on the edge of the bed, fingers gripping the hem of her dress tightly and trying to deny what Franca was talking about. "I wasn’t late, Franca," she said with a slight shake in her voice. "I know I wasn’t late to assist you serve dinner. I timed everything just right."
Franca raised her brows, arms folded. "I didn’t say you were late. I said you were... distracted."
Raven’s eyes darted up. "Distracted?"
"Yes," Franca said with a sly grin. "You know exactly what I’m talking about. You brushed Marcus’s back and nearly melted into a puddle right there. Don’t tell me that was just innocent."
Raven turned away. "It was a reflex, Franca. That’s all it was. Nothing important."
Franca leaned in closer, her smirk deepening. "Then I suppose your nipples got hard by accident too? Because they were poking right through that thin fabric, and girl... if I noticed, I’m sure he did too."
Raven gasped softly, clutched her chest, and looked down at herself. Her dress clung to her body, and yes, the evidence was still there. Firm, pointed, aching.
"Please stop," she whispered, cheeks flushed. "I... I can’t explain what’s wrong with me lately."
Franca laughed softly. "I think your body knows what it wants, even if your head keeps trying to deny it."
But Raven needed to change the subject fast. "I heard they were having a conversation during dinner. About Matteo suggesting someone Marcus should marry. That’s more important than my... than this."
Franca’s expression shifted instantly. "What? They’re finally talking about it?"
"Yes," Raven nodded. "And we need to hear what’s being said. You know we’re the only maids allowed in the inner chambers. The others can’t get close, but you and I can. We need to know what’s happening in this family."
"That’s true, girl," Franca said eagerly, adjusting her apron and brushing back her hair. "Let’s go. Let’s get the real conversation. I swear, if they say it’s someone else, I’m burning this whole mansion down."
Raven chuckled faintly, but her heart was thudding with uncertainty. Something in her knew something hard was coming.
As they walked quietly toward the dining hall, staying close to the walls, Franca whispered, "Oh my God... I can’t wait to wear Marcus’s ring on my finger. Once I’m his wife, no more random sluts trying to seduce him. He’ll be mine. All mine."
Raven smiled tightly. "Yeah, that’s good. And I’ll serve you as the latest bride of the Gonzales family. With all their wealth, power, and the name that commands everything."
"Say that again," Franca beamed, walking with pride. "I love how it sounds!"
They reached the thick velvet curtains that draped one side of the dining hall and carefully slipped behind them. Raven peeked through a small fold just as Matteo, seated near the head of the table, cleared his throat to speak.
"I’ve been thinking about it seriously," Matteo said in his firm, measured voice. "And I believe Marcus should get married soon. It’s time."
All heads turned to him.
"Have you chosen someone already?" their mother asked, setting her wine glass down.
Matteo nodded. "Yes... Raven."
Marcus’s eyes widened as he glared at his brother with perplexity.
"Raven? I thought you would be getting me married with an international model or something! Raven isn’t it," Marcus snapped, his expression blank.
There was silence.
"I hope you understand that Raven is the perfect choice for you! She’s loyal and innocent!" Matteo cut in, and Marcus couldn’t help but sneer coldly.
Their mother’s brows shot up. "Why Raven? Is it because she serves him well as his personal maid? I hope this isn’t just favoritism."
Matteo leaned back calmly. "As the eldest son, it is my right to suggest who is fit. And Raven, his personal maid, has proven her loyalty, her discretion, and her discipline. I won’t share my full reasons yet, but trust me when I say, she is the perfect woman for him."
He paused, then added, "Of course, if it goes against Marcus’s will, then he may choose another. But I have a strong feeling Raven is exactly what he needs."
Marcus leaned back and scoffed.
Behind the curtain, Raven froze.
Her breath caught in her throat, she felt her heart slamming against her ribcage, feeling her body trembling. Me?
There was only one Raven in this entire household. It couldn’t be anyone else.
In slow motion, she turned her head slowly toward Franca, who had been smiling all along. But now... her face fell, expression darkened.
Tears brimmed in Franca’s eyes, disbelief written all over her face.
She took a meticulous step back, hand over her mouth. "No," she whispered. "No, that’s not... it can’t be…”
The night broke against the city like a wave against glass, very quiet, yet fractured, almost elegant in its ruin.Matteo had always liked cities at night. The way the light fell across wet streets, the hum of traffic beneath everything, the sound of people living, lying, trying. It was easier to disappear in noise than in silence. And lately, that’s all he wanted, to vanish.But Raven had made that impossible.They’d been in the new safehouse for three weeks, maybe four; the days blended together. Raven and Elias had adjusted faster than he did, or maybe they just pretended better. The walls were thin, the air smelled of old cigarettes and fresh paint, and the TV never worked right. It was a place built for ghosts.And now Raven had gone and stirred one up.He had told her not to take that meeting,he had told her three times. “We’re supposed to be invisible,” he’d said. “You don’t meet anyone. Not contacts, not dealers, not old friends.”But she had gone anyway.By the time he got th
The city never really slept, it just changed its rhythm. By day, it was all noise and traffic, a symphony of horns and impatience. But at night, it exhaled. The streets quieted to a pulse, the kind you could feel through the soles of your boots if you stood still long enough. Matteo liked that pulse. It reminded him he was alive, even when everything else in him felt mechanical.He hadn’t spoken to Raven in two days, not really. They exchanged updates on safehouse maintenance, casino movements, surveillance patterns but nothing beneath that surface. She was ice, deliberate. Elias was distracted by Liora, wrapped up in something reckless and new. Matteo didn’t mind; the boy had earned a moment of foolishness. What unsettled him was the silence Raven left behind.She had built walls higher than anyone he’d ever met, and somehow, he’d grown accustomed to the cracks the moments when she let him glimpse what was underneath. But lately, even the cracks had sealed.That night, he found her
Liora’s POV.The night was a cheap suit creased, cigarette-burned, and stinking of sweat and lies. I’d worn it a hundred times before, in a hundred different cities with the same story, different backdrop. Men who thought the table loved them, women who thought the house would let them walk away smiling, and the shadows that fed on both.That was the casino for you. An animal with too many teeth and not enough patience. And me? I was the parasite riding its back, knowing when to bleed it and when to stay quiet.I saw Elias long before he saw me. That boy moved like he was trying not to move, which is the same as putting a flare on your back in a place like this. You can’t half-breathe in a pit full of wolves. Either you look like you belong, or you look like food.And Elias he was too clean, too wired. His eyes darted, his hands twitched, but there was something underneath it. A storm held tight in a bottle, waiting for someone stupid enough to uncork it.That someone, apparently, was
Matteo stands to one side and watches us both, the fulcrum between two poles pulling in opposite directions. He doesn’t move for a long time, and doesn't pick a side. He’s not made of the same compulsion as Raven and not the same longing as me. He is measured, which in this business is sometimes the most dangerous posture of all.“You could have been hurt,” Raven says finally, the syllables mechanical, precise. Her hands don’t touch me. They want to; she has always wanted to shape me into something safer.“You were,” she adds, quieter, as if that makes me smaller and the world correct.I tell her about the fight, about the scar-man’s hands, about Liora stepping in. She doesn’t ask about details. She only says, “Stay away from her.”Which is not a request, It’s a wall.I might have walked away then. I might have listened to the woman who built me from scraps and said, yes, you are my tether, and this is the price of the life I owe you. But Liora appears to me in a crooked memory when I
Rules.The man mentions rules like he invented the law. My blood moves faster then. “Maybe I’m here to make them,” I say, louder because my mouth needs to be heard and because the bar is full of men who like to be seen as kings.The scar-man stands. You don’t get his kind to sit. He’s all animal when he moves toward the table; his shoulders take up space like a threat. I stand too because I’m a fool. That’s the word I get later from my own mouth when I have time to be honest.Liora watches everything like she’s two steps ahead, not surprised and not pleased. That’s what scares me more than the scar-man. She doesn’t look alarmed; she looks amused, like she’s watching a play she’s already read.“Walk away, Julian,” she says, and it’s not a suggestion. Her voice has a steel edge I’ve heard a few times, and it shifts the room’s current.The scar-man ignores her. Ignoring her is like ignoring the sun. He reaches for his coat and the motion is swift and mean.One of his friends, a man with
The lights of the casino blur into a smear when I blink, a neon bruise that never quite heals. Tonight they hurt more than usual. Maybe because I know where the glow ends now in Liora’s apartment, in the curl of her cigarette smoke, in the way she presses her mouth against mine and makes me feel like I matter. Maybe because I can feel the pulls of two different orbits and they’re not compatible: one is fire and freedom, the other is steady checks and the cold calculus Raven and Matteo embody.I tell myself it's a choice. I tell myself I’m choosing a life I actually want.But choices are easy when you get to decide them between drinks and kisses. The hard part is waking up to the consequences.Tonight, though, starts simple enough. Liora texts me a name and a time, a place I haven’t been to before, one of those smoky after-hours rooms on the edge of the riverbank where the air tastes of rust and past mistakes. She says it’s a “show,” and I know what that code means: small stacks of chi







