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London, England ~ Ava’s POV

I sat comfortably in the black executive swivel chair opposite my father with my boot-clad feet crossed over his desk. I patiently watched him sort through a few files before finally lifting his head slightly to acknowledge my presence.

The dark bags under his blue eyes were what caught my attention first. He looked like he hadn’t slept a wink in months. I knew being the boss of the most powerful mafia was hectic, but I hadn’t thought it would be enough to make him resemble the undead.

“When was the last time you slept for at least more than half an hour?” I demanded before any words could escape his lips.

“Hmm.” He made a show of pausing to think about it, “The night before I realized, that I would soon have to step down and leave my business in the hands of that nobody.”

Never, then.

Henry Smirnov was the poor soul my father just referred to as a nobody. My half-brother was the result of our late mother’s fling while my father was bedridden from a bullet wound years ago. To him, Henry was a liability. One that should have never been given the chance to exist. He was a living reminder of our mother’s infidelity and to top it off, was bad at the family business.

I on the other hand, had everything it took to be the next boss. Everything except being the first-born child of the then bosses. I still didn’t understand why my parents hadn’t conceived me sooner, preferably before my mother felt she had to go outside her marriage for sexual attention.

Don’t get it wrong, I love Henry. He was everything you’d expect of a big brother- annoying but supportive. It’s just… I wished I had been brought into this world before him.

“I didn’t call you here to assess me.” My father’s voice interrupted my thoughts.

He hadn’t noticed I’d zoned out doing anything but exactly what he was accusing me of. Still, my smart mouth just had to reply with, “Too bad, would’ve been a good use of my time.”

He ignored me then went ahead to tell me that he needed me to put a halt to someone’s existence. I let out a small chuckle and then smirked. I would be lying if I said I didn’t know this was why he’d sent for me at 11:36pm. I put on an ‘I’m listening’ expression, waiting to hear the details of tonight’s kill.

I was in the mafia, thoroughly trained to be a lethal assassin. It was my job, my life. It was me. I was skilled in deception, seduction and torture as well. I was the perfect human weapon, and I wasn’t ever going to deny that I loved it. The loading of guns or rifles, pressing of triggers, throwing of knives, beating the hell out of an enemy, and the lovely sight of someone else’s blood spilled by my own actions. It all thrilled me to no end.

“A drug dealer decided to go rogue. He embezzled a million’s worth of narcotics and is holding a meeting tonight to plan his next move. I want him and everyone else at the meeting dead before sunrise.”

“Name?”

My fingers glided over the case of my favourite weapon. I had it strapped to my thigh, a beautiful pure gold dagger my father had gifted me right after birth. We’re a crazy family, get used to it.

“William Peterson.”

After I’d left my dad’s office, I walked in on the rest of the Shade relaxing in a lounge on the west wing. The enormous mansion had three divisions. West wing, for the boss, his gang, and their families. East and north wings, for every other mafia member, and the south wing, for the maids, cooks, drivers, pilots... basically the people who worked legally for my family.

The Shade comprised the people I grew up with, and me as its leader. Eleanor Jane Carter, normally referred to as Ellie, was my second in command. She had the darkest brown shade of hair I’d ever seen, and steel blue eyes. She was also my closest friend in the ring.

Elliot Christopher Carter, better known as Eli, her twin brother, was the hacker. He had dark brown hair but gray eyes. He was usually the reserved one in the gang and doubled as a tracker.

Leroy James Anderson, my bodyguard, had brown eyes and jet-black hair. Although hired by my father for my personal protection, he extended his duties to the entire gang when he could. My brother was also present.

“We’ve got a last-minute kill, who’s game?”

I rolled my eyes when the irritating shrill chirping of crickets answered my question. Okay. I guess I was on my own on this one. Not a problem though.

 “Eli, I need you to locate the exact venue of William Peterson’s meeting. It’s supposed to happen tonight.”

“The drug dealer?” Henry questioned and I nodded in the affirmative.

“The boss wants him dead.”

“Why?” This was Ellie, “He’s one of the best, never had a run in with the police.”

“He and a few others have decided that they don’t need the mafia’s protection anymore. He stole some of our drug supply.”

“But that makes zero sense. Did the boss at least try to find out why he did what he did?” She questioned, sitting up to face me better.

“Honestly, I don’t really care, it’s not any of my business if he didn’t inform me. Plus, Henry’s the only one eligible to know such information.”

“As if he’d tell me.” My brother muttered under his breath.

I pretended not to have heard him and turned back to Eli, “When you find the place, I need to know my way in, around, and out of there.” He gave me a thumbs up and reached for his tablet, “Oh, and Roy, as my bodyguard, you’re definitely not exempted from this assignment.” I firmly stated.

I returned to my bedroom to switch outfits. I changed out of a fitting black dress and thigh-high boots, into a black cropped top, leather jacket, ripped jeans, and combat boots. Appropriately dressed for William’s funeral, I headed out for the garage.

I picked a set of familiar keys off the key rack and sat down in the driver’s seat of a sleek black Lamborghini. Leroy joined me a few seconds after, taking the passenger’s seat.

Following the directions he read out loud to me from Eli’s text message, we arrived at a sturdy building secluded from the rest of the city. I unbuckled my seat belt with one hand and parked the car a few metres away from the towering building with the other.

“How are we getting in?” I asked.

“There are ten guards surrounding the perimeter of the building. The only way in is through a hatch on the rooftop which would land us right in the middle of the meeting. The main entrances have been locked from the inside, going through them would be somewhat suicidal, considering we’re heavily outnumbered.”

“How many of our men are with him?” I asked, putting my hair up in a high ponytail.

“Six, plus four additional guards.” He replied, switching off his phone.

“How are we getting on the roof?”

“There’s a ladder attached to the right side of the building, being guarded by three of them.” He replied.

I nodded and felt my brows crease as I thought deeply over everything. We needed to take down all ten guards without drawing the attention of anyone inside.

“It’s dark enough to get this over with. Take them all out, just make sure to do it quietly.”

I loaded a gun and attached a silencer to it. After I had hidden a few knives in my jacket, I was ready to go. We simultaneously exited the car and approached the building stealthily before parting ways.

I spotted three men leaning against a wall, and grabbed the knives. I took aim and flawlessly threw each knife at a guard before any could react. I watched as the sharp poison-laced objects, landed straight in their chests, causing them to drop with a thud. Knowing that they could still be breathing, I walked over to push the knives deeper into their hearts.

“Three down.” I texted Leroy.

“Four down.” He replied.

We met under the ladder where we killed the last three guards together.

“Ladies first.” He flashed a playful smile after we had reloaded our guns.

I rolled my eyes but hurried up the ladder anyway. I arrived safely on the rooftop and waited for him to join me. The view of the city lights from the top was stunning, unfortunately we weren’t here for sightseeing. I wanted to get this over with quickly so I could catch some sleep.

We had no trouble finding the hatch and he opened it for us to peep through. It creaked as he did so, and I hoped the bastards down there hadn’t heard. Jumping down the thing would land us right on the meeting table they were seated at.

“I can go first if you’re down with that.” Leroy offered, but I was too occupied to give an answer.

With a gun in my hand, I jumped down in style and landed swiftly on my feet.

“Who forgot to send me an invite?” I queried a table of stunned men in black while my bodyguard landed behind me with a thud.

The man I instantly assumed to be William, made a run for it and the others reached for their guns. So, the leader was a coward, and his followers, too slow. The mafia surely wouldn’t miss them.

I did a quick spin and shot at everyone that came into view before jumping off the table and going after William. The man reached for his own gun and took shots at me from behind him.

Oh, hell no!

Evading the haphazardly incoming bullets, I aimed at one leg and pressed the trigger, causing him to limp. I slowed my pace and then shot his other leg. He was on his knees in pain, having lost the will to shoot back at me. I stopped running to stroll leisurely towards him. I shoved a gun hard into the back of his head, and he lifted up his hands in surrender.

“Please.” He mumbled through clenched teeth. The excruciating pain in his legs had begun to take a toll on him.

“Please what?” I mocked, “Nice and slow, or quick and painless?”

As if there was such thing as a painless bullet through the head.

“N-no. P-please don’t.” He stammered, “I have a wife, and kids to take care of.”

It was a little too late for him to think about his family. He needn’t worry about them though, I’d personally ensure that they were well taken care of and compensated. They were not to blame for the man’s mistakes after all.

“Let me think about that for a second.” I replied, stroking my chin with the other gun and pretending to be in deep thought, “No.”

I pressed the trigger, driving a bullet through his skull and brain.

*****

I walked into my bedroom and threw my worn-out body onto the bed. The digital clock read 2:11am. A few hours more till sunrise. I shut my eyes, ready to slip into oblivion when I heard a voice, “You’re early.”

On reflex, I grabbed a knife from under my pillow and threw it in the direction of the voice.

“Hey! Take it easy Adamovich, it’s just me.”

David Adamovich, the world’s fastest and most accurate knife thrower. Only one person, referred to me as such- Eli.

I sat up halfway to see that he had caught the tip of the knife I had thrown. He wasn’t the only one invading my personal space. The one that shared my blood was here too. Ellie was probably asleep, like a sane person would be at this time of the day.

“Why are you here?” I asked, annoyance clear in my tone.

“You’re supposed to give Eli a verbal report on your assignment so he can work on it. You know how this works.” My brother reminded.

I groaned into a pillow. If I ever did become boss, my first plan of action would be to put a stop to such shit. Eli needed my report so he could work on fabricating evidence, erasing any trace of my presence, and managing surveillance related to my assignment. Okay so maybe such shit was done for a good reason, but I was so tired.

“Go bother Roy for his first, I need some shut eye. I’ll let you have mine when I wake up.” With that I lay back down, and turned over so my back was to them.