CHAPTER 001

The tray was stacked high with empty cups as Isabella wove through the packed bar. Friday nights were always like this, loud, crowded, and relentless. Regular tourists and big spenders would come over to enjoy the night. One of the best bars in town - that means no breathing room.

"Ella, over here. Pint of beer and a bottle of American whiskey. Hurry!" A co-worker shouted out over the loud, blaring music.

Isabella Rodriguez, freshly twenty-five, pushed her way through the bodies, holding her tray firm like a lifeline. Chaos has always been her normal. Nothing in her life had ever stayed neat and quiet for long.

She adjusted the short skirt hugging her curve, tied her apron tighter around her tiny waist, and grabbed the drink. Isabella was used to getting compliments about her beauty and her body. It came with the job. The compliment, whether crude, lazy, or cute, never went beyond words until tonight.

"Hey, sexy," a drunk called out. " Why don't you bring that ass over here after you're done?"

Laughter erupted from his table.

Ella scoffed and shot him a flat look. " Haha! Very funny."

The smack on her ass came fast and hard. Before she could think twice, she swung out the bottle in her hand, and it landed against the man's head.

The bar exploded into chaos.

Benita grabbed her arm and dragged her through the back exit before things could get worse.

An hour later, Isabella stood before her boss, hand shaking and her heart pounding.

"How could you? How dare you?!" Mr. Shelby, the boss, a portly round man with a protruding belly, yelled at her as he sat behind the desk, his face red with irritation.

"He assaulted me, sir..." She said, " He touched my body, I-"

"He was having fun! How is that wrong? Customers' satisfaction is supposed to be your priority. If you can't make them happy, why work here?"

Isabella head shot up as she looked at the man before her. He had tried to get her in his bed for a long time now, but she refused, contrary to what most girls in the club did. And he had shown his displeasure to her refusal many times by treating her less. Now, he wouldn't even arrest the man who touched her inappropriately.

"What are you saying?" She asked.

He leaned forward, his eyes narrowing. "What I am saying is, you're off the job."

"But, Mr. Shelby..."

" You are fired. Get out now!"

By the time she packed her stuff and hit the street, the night felt colder than usual. Loosing this job meant a lot of things would go wrong. Her rent, bills, medications for her mother, and her brother's upkeep.

Her thoughts spiraled as she walked. She’d dropped out of college to care for her sick mother and younger brother. Every paycheck already vanished the moment it landed in her hands.

She needed comfort, she dailed her boyfriend several times, he didn't pick up her calls, Isabella had no choice but to go to his apartment.

All she needed tonight was a shower, pizza, a movie, and kisses from Sammy to make her forget everything that had happened tonight.

But when she unlocked the apartment door with her personal key, moans echoed down the hall. Clothes littered the floor.

Her stomach dropped.

Fearing the worst, she rushed to the bedroom, and there she saw her best friend, Violet, riding her boyfriend with reckless abandon.

Her bag fell to the ground, only then did the two notice they weren't alone.

"Ella!" Violet scoffed, "Why didn't you knock? Weren't you taught manners?"

Isabella could feel her heart breaking into tiny million pieces, she couldn't tell which one hurt most, getting assaulted at work and getting fired, or her boyfriend and best friend fucking eachother behind her back.

The tears gathered in her eyes. " How could you both do this to me?"

Sammy stood up, put on his short and scoffed. " You did this, the moment you prioritize your job and your family over our relationship and my needs."

Isabella grabbed a glass cup on the tray nearby and threw at him, barely missing his head. "I regret the day i met you. It's over between us."

As soon as she got into her apartment and slid down the wall, she realized that her world was caving in, and she let the tears fall. She hadn't had the time to grieve the end of her three years relationship when her phone rang.

"Miss. Rodriguez" Doctor henry said. ' Your mother went into shock and we are fighting to keep her stable. We need you here."

The doctor hadn't finished talking when Isabella jumped into the nearest taxi she flagged down. The hospital smelt like antiseptic and fear, and the look in Doctor Henry's eyes told her everything.

" Calm down, Ella, she's stable now. But she needs to undergo another surgery soon. "

Isabella rake a hand through her hair as she lets a tear fall across her cheeks. "How much?"She whispered.

Doctor henry hesitated. " A lot."

By the time she got to her mother's house, she resolved to grab ice cream from the fridge and watch some movies before crying herself to sleep. That decision made a little sense until she flipped on the light and screamed in horror.

Her brother lay on the floor with a battered face and swollen eyelids. Blood soaked his torn shirt, and he was barely conscious.

"OMG! Yugo! are you okay?" She whimpered by the bruises and cuts she saw on his face. His black hair was also matted with thick blood. "I'm calling 911? What the fuck is going on?"

Ella made to grab her phone but Yugo's frail hand was faster and she watched the device slammed against the wall. "What on earth did you just do?"

Yugo grabbed her shirt, his hold tightening as he spoke with all the energy he could muster. "We can't. We need to run."

"What do you mean? Are you crazy? You're bleeding!"

"I'm fine!" He snapped again. "We just have to leave, now." Yugo stood up and staggered towards his room, returning with a duffel bag and some money.

"Where did you get that?"

"I believe that belongs to me."

They both turned their heads towards the entrance where Ella was pretty sure she'd locked the door before coming in. "How did you get in? Who are you?"

The man stepped into light and just then were they able to see him clearly. Average height, not too muscular but a little bit buffed with tattoos curled around his neck to his bald head like a warning. His lips twitched just as his eyes narrowed, taking in the two people before him.

Ella clutched her brother to her side, her heart beating so fast she thought it would implode.

"I believe we haven't met, pretty damsel," the man said, smiling devilishly, exposing his yellow teeth as his men appeared from the shadows. "Your brother is not the saint you think he is. He works for us, the Corps."

Isabella has only heard horrific stories and seen the news about the Corps so she knows the extent to which they can be cruel. How can her brother work for such ruthless people?

She forced herself to speak. “He’s eighteen.”

The man smiled faintly. Not amused. Not kind. “Old enough to make expensive mistakes. Your brother made a bad deal and that deal cost us about half a million dollars and a seat at the mafia table."He whistled once.

His men emerged from the shadows and ripped Yugo from her arms. "If you want to see your brother, find that money and pay us in three weeks. Otherwise, I'll send your brother's body chopped into pieces to you."

Ella screamed his name, clawing uselessly at them.

He paused at the door, just long enough to glance back at her. “You should pray you’re resourceful,” he added softly.

Then he was gone.

Isabella collapsed to the ground, her body shaking in fear and disbelief.

Half a million dollars in three weeks?

  How would she come up with such an amount?

There was only one person she had never thought about in situations as critical as this.

And it meant facing the man she worked for as a part-time nanny.