Prologue

Fed up, that was exactly how she felt, it had not been her week, nor her month, nor her year,

everything had gone terribly wrong and she felt on the verge of a nervous breakdown, this time,

she was going to be evicted from her apartment, the debts had piled up and the bank, of course,

could not wait any longer. Her furniture was now on the sidewalk outside the building,

uncomfortable glances began to pile up on her and the murmurs were not long in coming; some

neighbors sincerely regretted what was happening, others, on the other hand, found her situation

quite amusing.

Caterina De Santis was a simple and totally ordinary art teacher, her blue eyes, almost like the

color of sea water, threatened to shed tears of frustration at the new misfortune that fell upon

her, she wore her brown hair pulled back in a badly done ponytail, her shapely curves and the

beauty of her body, imperceptible under that baggy sweater that was completely ruined by the

paint, she had been working on a new canvas just when they came to kick her out of her house,

and she hadn't even had time to change her clothes.

“Sign here, this will do for now.

Caterina knew she couldn't refuse to sign even if she wanted to, her brand-new ex-husband, who

had eloped about 6 months ago with her own older sister, had signed her apartment as a

mortgage on a loan with which he was supposed to start a new business, of course that had

turned out to be a sham, and the bastard had kept every last dollar of that loan and her bank

accounts, to surely make a fortune with that traitor whom, unfortunately, she would always have

as a sister.

Signing that paper, Caterina dropped into one of the chairs that had been thrown out into the

street, her legs were shaking and she was on the verge of a real crisis, however, she knew she

could not afford it, she had to find a way to save what little she had left before night fell.

Pulling her cell phone out of her clothes, she dialed the number of that old high school friend who

had once made her an indecent job offer, an offer she had, of course, flatly rejected; working in an

elegant bar where exotic dances were given was no place for her, back then she was still a decent

married woman, however, given her current precarious and extremely painful situation she had no

other choice, her parents, of course, had turned their backs on her when her sister ran away with

her husband, her lifelong friends had definitely moved away after that scandal and, little by little

she had found herself really alone. Dialing that number engraved in the phone's memory, she felt

extremely anxious.

“Yes, is that you, Caterina?” asked the female voice on the other end of the line.

“Hi Becca, sorry to call you, but I wanted to ask you something “said Caterina feeling a complete

failure for what she was about to do.

“Of course, my friend, what do you need?” Said the woman on the other end of the line.

Caterina took a few moments before asking that embarrassing question, however, as she

recapitulated her situation again, she honestly had no other options.

“Tell me Becca, at that place where you offered me a job months ago, are they still hiring?”

Caterina questioned with too much embarrassment under her arm.

“Oh friend, sorry, we are not hiring dancers, however, if we need waitresses, you are a beautiful

but decent girl, I can offer you that, you will not earn the same as a dancer, but the tips are

excellent, I assure you that you will receive more money than in that school where you work, and

then, of course there will be a place for you in the dance if you wish” said Becca with sincerity.

“Perfect, tell me something Rebeca, when could I start?” Caterina asked hopefully, feeling that

being a waitress was definitely better than being a dancer.

“You can start tonight; do you need anything else?” the woman said kindly.

“Yes, I’m sorry to bother you Becca, ¿but could you help me find a cheap place? I have very little

money and I'm on the street with my few pieces of furniture, I've been kicked out of my

apartment, you know, Henry's debt I could never pay” said Caterina feeling like a freeloader.

“Don’t worry honey, tell me the address where you are, I will send someone to bring you and your

things, you can stay with me while we find something private for you and for little Dante”

answered Becca kindly.

“You really don't know how much I thank you” said Caterina letting her tears fall. Her dear friend

was a light in the middle of that huge problem, surely, she and her son would have ended up in

the street if it wasn't for her.

“Don’t worry, we are old friends, you helped me in my worst moment, let me help you in yours”

said young Rebecca sincerely.

Night had fallen, and with it, the scum of humanity went out into the street in search of some

insane fun to spend the night, Caterina felt really uncomfortable, her idea of a waitress uniform

was far from what she was wearing, that skirt was too short and tight to the body and she was not

allowed to wear shorts underneath, The blouse itself was not a blouse, it was more like a crop top

also tight to the body with a neckline too pronounced, revealing too much, her breasts almost

exposed, it was almost like going naked, she had never worn "clothes" like that before, that left

nothing to anyone's imagination.

Taking a look outside, Caterina did not feel ready to go out dressed like that to attend clients in a

drunken state, however, she knew well that she could not leave just like that and keep her dignity

as she wanted to do at that precise moment, she needed the money urgently... her little son, who

a while ago had been picked up from school and left at Rebeca's house with the nanny who was in

charge of taking care of her little girl, was having too many bad moments with her.

Taking all the air that her lungs could take, Caterina went out to the client area of the bar,

Temptation in Ecstasy, that was the name of that place, where, according to the words of Rebeca

who ran the place with her husband, only first-class clients came, millionaires, rulers, mafiosi,

people with too much money and power, those who had enough millions to buy even the laughter

of anyone.

Approaching the first table she saw without a waitress; the brunette took her small notebook to

take the order from the very serious men dressed in fine and expensive suits who looked her up

and down without losing detail of her.

“Good evening, are you ready to take your order?” asked the painter too shyly, completely

inexperienced and not knowing what else to say.

The man, looking almost criminal, let out a loud laugh at her question, she didn't understand what

she had done wrong.

“I haven’t seen you around here before, are you new? We're only served by Becca herself, not

some girl who looks like she's got the wrong door, this isn't a coffee shop.

Said one of the men who certainly had all the cliché mafioso looks, a man in his 40's, you could tell

he was too ugly and scary.

“I’m sorry, I didn't know” said Caterina embarrassed and hoping not to have caused a problem to

her old friend, turning her back to those men, the beautiful brunette was about to look for

another table to attend and this time, trying not to be so stupid.

“Wait," said another of the men behind her, making her turn around.

“Did you call me?” Caterina asked, looking at the young man.

His appearance was too intimidating, visible tattoos that seemed to cover his entire torso up to his

neck that were noticeable even under that expensive and elegant black suit, his face, although

very beautiful, with perfect manly features, was in a grimace of apparent discomfort, his eyes,

were deep, of a beautiful sapphire blue color, completely aggressive, penetrating, that scrutinized

her mercilessly in every angle and curve of her body, a man too handsome, too intimidating and,

perhaps... too dangerous.

“Come closer, I want to get a good look at you” ordered the rough man, making the frightened

Caterina nervous.

The woman approached timidly and feeling frankly intimidated, that man had stood up and,

undoubtedly, was much taller than her, passing the 1.90 that made her look almost tiny in her

1.70, looking into the eyes of that imposing man, the brunette was facing him, without lowering

her gaze despite feeling almost frightened.

“You are beautiful, too beautiful to be a simple waitress, what's your name?” asked that man with

beautiful and intimidating blue eyes.

“Caterina, my name is Caterina, sir” answered the brunette without saying her last name.

“Just Caterina? No last name?” asked the man taking the girl's beautiful face between his fingers.

Caterina felt short of breath in front of that beautiful man, however, he did not seem, nor would

he ever seem, the kind of man she would date, let alone say his last name.

“That’s right, excuse me, but I don't know him, I don't usually give my full name to strangers”

answered the beautiful brunette.

A mischievous smile was drawn on the lips of that intimidating man.

“I like you Caterina, and you see, I always get what I want, my name is Hades, Hades Visconti, and

you will give me everything I want from you, including your last name” said the intimidating man

arrogantly.

Caterina did not look away from the man, what had she gotten herself into? The man in the bar

was looking at her with lust... with passion, and something deep inside her liked it, a new story

was beginning, one that would unleash rivers of blood, Caterina had met Hades Visconti, without

knowing what that event would end up unleashing in her life, without knowing that it had marked

her destiny.