Eleni's Pov
I was so shocked I couldn’t even cry. How could my mom do this to me? I knew she didn’t really like me and I never knew why. We had never really been close despite doing everything to be a good daughter to her. It seems even the sight of me annoyed her, but I’d never have believed she would try to kill me. Because dead is what id be if the Makris brothers didn’t get their money in thirty minutes time. I looked under the mattress again. She really had taken my money and left with her favorite child, Nick. I was sure she had tricked him into leaving, Nick loved me too much to agree to any wicked plan against me. She had probably lied to him that I had agreed with her that leaving was best and would join them later. When I don’t show up and he realizes what Mom has done he would be devastated. Just like I was devastated now. How the hell was I going to get out of this mess? My first thought was to run away, but with just a few dollars in my purse how far was I going to run before the brothers caught me. I shuddered thinking what they would do to me. No, the only answer was to face them and tell the truth maybe I would work out a way to pay back what my dad owed. They may be merciful if they saw how sincere I was. It was a choice of the devil and the deep blue sea, and I choose to swim. I left the house and began walking to their club. I had walked a couple of feet when a car pulled up besides me and man I recognized as one of the men who had come with Alexios stepped out. “The boss is waiting.” He said harshly. “I ammon my way to see him.” I said trembling. I got into the car with him, on the way it occurred to me that they man had been watching the house, probably so I won’trun away..i was happy I hadn’t but also confused. Why hadn’t he seen my mom leave? I was still thinking about it when we arrived. I was trembling as I walked to Alexios’ office but to my relief he wasn’ttgere. Instead it was a slightly older, taller, kinder looking man. “Im Christos, my brother Alex says you have our money.” He said. Without wasting time I told him everything then waited for his decision. “I am sorry this happened to you.” He said finally. “And because you didn’t try to run away I’ll be merciful. I’ll give you a chance to work for me and pay off your debts. You can either work as a stripper in our strip club every night, or a waitress in our bar at nights and a cashier in our supermarket by day. I will suggest the strip club you will money faster.” I hated the idea of being a stripper so I choose the second job. “You will live in the staff quarters so we can keep an eye on you.” He said. I agreed, I couldn’t afford the rent in our place anyway. I was now officially their slave and two months later here I was working two jobs, which meant I didn’t have time for my baking business, so it collapsed. It also meant I got a lot of unwanted attention from men. The first day one of them, Glykos, grabbed my breast and I slapped him in anger. “How dare you hit me you bitch!” He yelled grabbing my arm. Luckily Christos was nearby and intervened. When he heard when happened he was pissed. “You know the rules Glykos, you don’t touch the girls without consent!” He yelled. Glykos tried to apologize but Christos ordered his men to teach him a lesson. They beat him up and broke his arm, after that the other men kept their hands to themselves. But not Alexios. He kept flirting with me and won’t take no for an answer. Now as I knocked on his door at midnight I wondered what he was going to try now. “Come in.” I walked in carefully, he was sitting on his sofa and his eyes lit up as I came in then darkened when he saw I’d changed from my skimpy uniform into my usual t-shirt and jeans, but he didn’t say anything. I looked around and saw he was alone. Why had he sent his bodyguard away? I thought anxiously. “Come are sit down and have a drink, I want to talk to you.” He said patting the seat besides him. I obeyed reluctantly sitting away from him. “Yo don’t have to be scared Leni,” he said handing me a drink and moving closer. “I will get straight to the point. I like you and want you to be my girl, in exchange I’ll convince Chris to forget your debts.” I stared at him in shock, then goad at his audacity. I’d die working before I dated this jerk. “Thank you sir but don’t worry. I promised to work off my debt and I will.” I said carefully. He frowned, then before I could blink he pulled me closer and tried to kiss me. I pushed him away in disgust and stood up. “Please sir I am not interested.” I said firmly. Before I realized what was happening he had his hands around my throat and was squeezing hard. Blood pounded in my ears and my tongue protruded. “No one says no to me you whore!” He fumed. I struggled to loosen his grip as I realized he was trying to kill me, then I remembered a self-defense technique my dad had taught me years ago. I rammed my head with all my force into his face. He screamed in pain and let me go her. I jumped back, coughing and gasping for air. “You bitch!” He yelled. Blood was dripping from his nose and his face was contorted in murderous fury as he rushed towards me. I knew without a doubt he would kill me if he got his hands on herme In desperation I picked up a footstool nearby and brought it down on his head. He crumpled to the floor. I leaned against the wall trembling from fear and adrenaline. Wondering what Christos would do when he heard I’d knocked out his brother. Then I froze in horror. Alexios wasn’t moving. Still holding the stool I went closer to him. “Are you okay?” I asked hoarsely. He didn’t move. Then I saw the blood trickling from his head and panic gripped me. He was dead and I had killed him!Eleni's Pov I was so shocked I couldn’t even cry. How could my mom do this to me? I knew she didn’t really like me and I never knew why. We had never really been close despite doing everything to be a good daughter to her. It seems even the sight of me annoyed her, but I’d never have believed she would try to kill me. Because dead is what id be if the Makris brothers didn’t get their money in thirty minutes time. I looked under the mattress again. She really had taken my money and left with her favorite child, Nick. I was sure she had tricked him into leaving, Nick loved me too much to agree to any wicked plan against me. She had probably lied to him that I had agreed with her that leaving was best and would join them later. When I don’t show up and he realizes what Mom has done he would be devastated. Just like I was devastated now. How the hell was I going to get out of this mess? My first thought was to run away, but with just a few dollars in my purse how far was I going to run
Eleni's Pov I was confused. Dead? How? He had left to go job hunting that morning because the Makris brothers had fired him after he had retuned the money. I had urged him to find something that won’t involve working with criminals. The cop told me dad had taken his own life by jumping off a bridge. His motorcycle had been found near the bridge with his suicide note on the seat. I burst into tears. Nick heard the commotion and came into the living room. He too began crying when he heard the news. I couldn’t believe it. Why would dad do something so selfish? Mom may have been mad at him, but Nick and I loved him. Despite his gambling he was a good father. Days ago I had told him of my plans to open a bakery and make enough to make our lives easier, so why couldn’t he have waited? I found out the answer days later. I came home after a long day of baking pastries for a wedding, to see mom and Nick trembling with fear in the living room. A stocky dark haired man, with mean grey
Eleni's Pov The fear that seized me made me so weak I sank into a nearby chair. Christos and Alexios Makris were brothers who ran a huge criminal organization. The organization included every crime you could think off. My dad Andreas worked in their casino as a maintenance man. I hadn’t been happy about him working with them because they were known as ruthless gangsters, and he was a gambling addict, the temptation would be hard to resist. But there were the only people who would accept him. All the other places he had worked had fired him after a couple of weeks because of his gambling. “Dad is this true? You stole money from those deadly gangsters? What for?” I asked hoarsely. “To gamble of course! What else does the idiot do with his money!” Mom said furiously. “He gambled and lost, now those sadistic bastards are after him!” “Dad please talk to me. What is going on?” I asked gently. My dad who was hanging his head looked at me sadly. “I am so sorry. I made a mistake.
Eleni's Pov I was so scared my knees nearly gave way. Handsome had been caught and he’d told them my role in his escape, I panicked. There would be no mercy for me. Calm down, maybe you can talk you way out of this. I thought. “I am really busy right now.” I told the goon, forcing myself to calm down. “He said now!” “Okay, okay. Let’s go.” He led the way to the office. “Are you okay? You looked really pissed, I hope you aren’t still mad at me because I forgot to get you the glass of water.” I said referring to an incident that had happened earlier. “No. Sorry I yelled at you. I’m just pissed because we botched a job and Alexios has been yelling at us.” “What job?” I asked cautiously. “Some guy we were supposed to take care of but the asshole got away, and now Alexios won’t shut up about it. It’s partly his fault for not giving us a head up quick enough.” He said bitterly. I felt my pounding heart slowing down. Handsome had got away. So why was Alexios sending for me?
Eleni's Pov My hand froze in mid air. What did I just hear? I pressed my ear to the door. “I’ve been told he is with the Romano family in New York and is here to spy on us. I want you to question him, then get rid of him.” Alexios told his men. I almost gasped at the word question. I knew it was a code for brutal torture. “The Romano’s are very powerful boss, won’t they raise hell if we knock off one of their own?” The goon asked. I could hear the worry in his voice. “They don’t know he is here. According to my source he is solo, hoping to get into his bosses good books by getting info on us. Don’t worry knocking the bastard off won’t raise any questions.” “Okay boss, do you want us to take him now?” “No. It will cause a scene and Christos won’t like that. We will take him outside. I want a few men inside watching him, then some posted outside the front and back door, he can’t leave any other way. Once he steps out, grab him and take him to the warehouse. Question him
Eleni's Pov In my sleep walking state I had bumped into someone and the bottles of wine had fallen off the tray and shattered all over the floor. My eyes widened in horror. Where the hell am I going to get the money to pay for this? I am so dead! I thought. I looked up to see who I’d run into and my breath froze. The midnight black pair of eyes that stared at me were deep and mysterious, so deep it was as if they were looking into my brain and reading my thoughts. And I was beginning to have wild thoughts as I stared at the dark, handsome stranger in front of me. He was nearly a foot taller than me, and drop dead handsome! His complexion was swarthy, his mustache and beard were as dark as his hair, his strong chiseled jaw was clenched as he stared at me. Wow! I was so captivated by him that I didn’t notice all the people in the bar were staring at us until Sweet yelled. “What the hell! That is my drink you careless bitch!” Handsome, that was the name that quickly came t