Who Not How Novels & Stories

Not now, not ever. ***

“Maybe they’re short-staffed.” “Do you know where the company is?” I ask quickly, hopeful. If I know where it is, I can check. I can see for myself. I don’t know why this heavy, sinking feeling won’t leave my gut. It twists inside me, making me fidget, making it hard to sit still. “I don’t,” Salvatore says, blowing out a frustrated breath. “I should’ve asked. Honestly, until you mentioned it this morning, I didn’t even know he had an interview.”

“Okay. I wanted you to have a good meal first before talking about you but Bruno just spoiled it. Okay, here we go… So I’m Noah, I own this land and that was Bruno, my assistant.” “And?” “Your name is Vlad, that’s all I know. We met last night, we had a few drinks and had a good talk.” “Vlad, oh yeah, I kinda remember, Vladimir! My name’s Vladimir!” Noah shared that we did have a good conversation last night and that we were talking about how I can help him complete the missing pieces before his grand opening but I can hardly recall any of it. I can only understand some of it like I was drinking and dancing but the rest was not even a blurr, It was all a blank!

Not anyone. Only me.

Hadn't I? ***

Right before the syndicate's power handover, I flew back to New York after a year of studying jewelry design in Europe. But the night before the ceremony, my secret boyfriend of three years—the Rossi family's new second-in-command—sent me a text: [Sorry, Chloe. I lost a card game, and you were my chip. You're his problem now.] Before I could even breathe, I got tagged in the family's encrypted dark-web channel. The top thread was blowing up: [The Mafia Boss Just Won a Fat Pig for a Girlfriend!] Pinned right at the top was an old photo of me from a few years ago. Back when I was 180 pounds. The comment section was ruthless: [If the Boss knew what he actually won, he'd regret making that bet.]

"Oh no" *************

Not by anyone. Not this time.

he asked his own question, whispering it. “Huh, nothing, but I'm not even close to the women I'm sure he dates. I'm not beautiful, rich, or…” He clenched his fists beside him, and heard Olivia cut in. "Wait, what do you mean you're not beautiful, Ruby?” she asked. "I mean do you ever look in the mirror or stand in front of it naked?”

“It is your wish.” “How about Russia?” “Too many mafias!” I exclaimed. He raised his eyebrow. “How do you know?” “Have we met?” I replied and he chuckled. “Right. I am not used to people having the same knowledge about this stuff as me.” I smirked, “Well. I am not used to being around people who have any knowledge about this.” He sighed. “France?” “Too cliche!” He tilted his head to the side and rolled his eyes. “Vietnam?”