She heard the hoots and the cat calls as she slid down the pole, her legs twirling around it, using it to hold down her weight, trying to ignore the pain she felt in her bones and legs. It did hurt so much to be taking three shifts, especially on the third day, waking up at 4 a.m. and sleeping at 11 p.m. She was so exhausted that sometimes she skipped meals. Right now, she raked her fingers through her hair, desperate to look sexy so they wouldn't throw things at her because she didn't satisfy them enough. That wasn't what she wanted. Besides being the new girl, she was the new star, making a lot of profit that she would never see, much less lay her hands on. She felt weak, she felt sick, she shivered, slowly catching a fever, and she'd noticed the bruising on her lower lips that morning as she applied her lipstick. But she couldn't fall right now. She needed to work because that was what he wanted. I'll break you, Gia... And he was slowly breaking her, slowly making her give it

Matteo was buried on a Tuesday, At first, it had looked sunny—a bright day for any occasion. Maya had said that when it was this bright, it meant the spirit was going straight to heaven.Until the body had to be laid on the ground, there was a heavy downpour, the cloud went dark, and the wind was restless.It was not expected, especially when the weather reports had predicted sunlight for two days straight. The rain was so sudden that Milo joked to his mother about Matteo still going to heaven.Zayne wasn't part of the jokes, and everyone noticed and left him alone. Even during the heavy downpour, he still stood close to the grave, ignoring Nico and Alexa, who stood next to him and tried to change his mind about staying under the rain.They gave up and left just the same way the others had. Zayne was in front of the tombstone, watching the rain beat down on it, trickling down from his hair and down to his eyebrows; he was soaking wet. But then he knew this could be the last time, mayb

The woman looked disturbed sitting in front of him; more times than most, she looked up at the clock and then at the table, fighting hard not to lock eyes with a Don who looked demonically disturbed."You do not know who Gia Venditti is?"She shook her head, "I know I might get in trouble for not covering her up like boss Aaron asked me to," she blinked, "but I can't let you keep on being deceived, Don.""Keep going," he nodded."Gia works for the cartels; she let Aaron talk her into going undercover in your manor, Don." She was stuttering, "Aaron thinks that by taking down Cosa Nostra, he will get favors from Sir Venditti."Zayne chuckled at the words replaying in his head, "take down the Cosa Nostra," he repeated, and the woman nodded, "Do you have any idea where Aaron might be?"She shook her head, "No, sir, even before Venditti went into hiding, he was nowhere to be found."Zayne ran his fingers through his hair, leaning back against the seat. He tried his best not to be consumed

Maximo watched his boss's back as he walked out the door. his hand sweeping through his hair before he walked up to her, who had her eyes on the ceiling and her hands folded across her chest. He should give it to her; she did have a lot of nerves talking back at the Devil of Rome, raising her chin at him, matching his anger with defiance, despite knowing he had her life in his hands. Walking up to her, he reached his hand forward to help her down from the bed, but she ignored his outstretched hands, climbing down from the bed herself. He swallowed his annoyance. "I'll give you a piece of advice, ma'am." Maximo began, "Maybe if you stop running your mouth and acting like you could take him down, then he may pardon you." She turned to him with a raised brow and said, "And do I look like I give two fucks ab..." He touched his side, and she kept the remaining words to herself, looking away to the wall, and began to walk outside, the light white gown hugging her naked body underneath.

Two days later, she stood in front of the mirror, watching her reflection as a girl of about the same age as she wore the slim necklace on her neck, which accentuated her neckline. She swallowed when she saw the tiny red beads at the side, knowing he was making a statement.The gown was a slim, thin-strapped dress that had a slit down one side of her leg, and with heels that didn't fit her mood, Gia felt like a doll being dressed up by those women who weren't in any way gentle with her.But she would give it to them; they were good at what they did—the curls packed at the top of her head, letting some fringes drop down her face.She joined her hands together in front of her, and the music bouncing from the stairs and up to her room seemed to remind her of what she was about to witness.Aaron wasn't going to come; she only hoped he had more sense than to slip into Don's manor because it was going to be a masked party. Her eyes dropped to her red mask, and she swallowed, blinking the te