I heard this song at least a thousand times while writing this chapter...again, not related to the chapter at all...

In the world of heartless bastards and twisted nooks and crannies, trust is something we don't see that often. And when we do see it, it's usually damaged.

"So...how did you find out about the Mafia? How much do you know?" Danny asked, looking very guarded and apprehensive of the whole situation, his expressions though betrayed his worry.

His questions just fueled the fire that I was so futilely trying to curb.

Trying being the key word. Oh, how I just wanted to rip his head off at the moment!

"You are in no position to ask me questions, you lying asshole! I trusted you!" I shouted surprising the three men standing in front of me while glaring daggers at the person that is supposed to be my friend.

Lucca silently handed him the files that I had so graciously thrown at his face not an hour ago. As I saw Danny read through the files, his expressions changed from shocked to understanding.

Oh shit, he knows its Lia. Danny had never met Lia per se, but from what I had told him about her, was more than enough for him to figure out who found these things about Lucca.

"This has only one person written all over it..." he muttered still scanning through the pages but I cut him off immediately by moving forward and grabbing his collar, almost choking him.

I can't have the fucking Mafia on Lia's tail just because she helped me, oh hell no. And I wasn't about to kill him, no. J

ust a threat to get it past his thick skull to not involve Lia in this shit more than she already is.

My sudden actions surprised him and he dropped all the files grabbing my wrists on instinct and twisting them. But I was faster. I was expecting him to react this way; after all I knew all his moves as he had trained with me for 4 years.

I quickly twisted around hitting the back of his knees with my shoes, compelling him to fall forwards and immediately grabbing his hair with hand and choking him with the other arm.

"Breathe a word about Lia and next time I won't stop until you are hospitalized, understood?" I whispered leaning in his ears.

He nodded in understanding. My threat was not a fake one and Danny understood that pretty well.

"Aren't Mafia people supposed to be all high and mighty? And here I brought two of them on their knees."I scoffed letting go of Danny's head looking from a very pissed looking Danny to two very bemused and shocked looking men in black.

"You caught me off guard!" Danny defended himself.

"Oh I am so sorry. I totally forgot, criminals usually warn before killing you, don't they? How stupid of me!" I said in the most sarcastic tone I could muster up.

I was beginning to get a serious headache. Too much information and too little time to process.

"What I mean is that I did not expect my friend to attack me out of nowhere!" he snapped back looking extremely irritated. He was rubbing his fingers over his neck that was now slowly turning red because of the pressure I applied.

"Whatever Danny." I said rubbing my temples, trying to rid myself of the headache.

"Now before you two start with your bickering again like fucking four year olds, what did you want Damanio?" Lucca asked glancing between me and Danny with a murderous look. Hey, what did I do?

Danny only smiled at Lucca but didn't react any further. Guess he was used to Linguini's mercurial behavior.

"E vi prego di parlare in italiano, non voglio che lei lo sapesse più di quanto già fa." Lucca spoke giving a pointed look to Danny who nodded.

"Sí." and then Danny too started speaking gibberish that I presume was Italian, so I did my best to tune them out.

Their conversation was extremely heated but hell, I couldn't understand a thing! Way to keep out of the loop, Linguini.

I sat down on the abandoned couch and began rubbing my temples as my headache couldn't take a clue and leave me the fuck alone. I had a lot to deal and a headache was not a welcomed nuisance.

Suddenly the couch dipped on my right. I opened my eyes to see an equally frustrated and confused looking Christopher. He looked at me and gave me a knowing, sympathetic smile.

"Annoying, isn't it?" he asked, half scoffing, half laughing. I fixed him with one of my famous nasty glares. He immediately got the clue and shut up.

Or so I thought...

"You are not talking much..."he stated after a short while, looking at me with speculative eyes as if trying to figure out a very difficult puzzle.

"No shit, Sherlock." I snapped, not wanting to talk to anybody around me in this room. All of them mockerfucking, manipulating, lying bastards!

"Hey, it's not like you are the easiest person to talk to. Why do you hate me so much?" he asked, sounding a little wary of the answer he was about to get.

"I don't hate you, Christopher. I am not just particularly excited about your existence." I said rolling my eyes, sighing as my headache wouldn't let go of me.

Go away, dammit!

"Why?" he asked, his expressions remaining the same, speculative.

"Well let's see, to name one reason you flirt with anything and everything that has a pulse and a vagina. That disgusts me." I snapped without even sparing him a glance.

He seemed unaffected by my bluntness or rudeness; moreover I could feel the smugness and amusement radiating off him and it was fucking irritating.

"Now that's not true. I have my standards. I have never flirted with an ugly woman, or an old woman for that matter. No wait, scratch that last one..." He said trying very hard not to laugh.

"And you flirt with me."I said ignoring his previous statement.

"So, your point being...?"He trailed off sounding confused.

"It's fucking irritating and a waste of your time. Get a hint and stay away from me, Christopher." I said looking him straight in the eye so he gets the message clear as sunny day.

"Well, it's worth the try. Can't blame me, Violet. You are a very attractive woman and I am only a man after all." He said giving me a lopsided grin that has most girls swooning.

Ugh, it's disgusting. It's like his face becomes deformed. Okay, that is a lie but I still don't like him, pretty face or not.

"And... you are doing it again. Keep it in your pants, Christopher. I am not interested." I said, allowing the exasperation to leak in my voice. He only laughed.

"Why are you so adamant on calling me Christopher? Call me Chris, Christopher makes me sound old." He said completely changing the topic. Again.

I agreed with him by saying a small, almost inaudible 'fine' not wanting to argue or comment on his constant need to keep talking because my head felt like it was splitting in half.

He was shocked that I agreed but smiled nonetheless.

Lucca and Danny's conversation seemed to go on forever. Lucca looked livid at the moment, trying to curb his anger, maybe because he had an audience. He was glaring daggers at Danny, giving him this murderous look that could make any grown man pee his pants, but Danny was least affected by it.

"That's enough. Do whatever you want to do, Damanio. I trust you. I have to have a small chat with tesoro, here." Lucca switched to English, drawing my attention.

"Get me a couple of Tylenols, will you? I am sensing this is going to be a taxing chat and I have a splitting headache." I whispered to Chris, looking warily at the Italian Mafia boss who at the moment looked pissed as hell. Just peachy.

Chris immediately nodded and got up, throwing me worried look but not speaking anything. Good, I wouldn't have been able to handle any more questions from him; his Spanish Inquisition session was irritating enough.

Getting up silently, he walked around to his table and handed me couple when he came back assuming his previous position. I gulped them down with a glass of water that was lying on the desk near me.

"Listen to me tesoro, and listen good." He started, completely ignoring the exchange that took place between me and Chris. I sighed, here goes another long-ass death threat, and I can just sense it coming.

"I will have eyes on you, 24/7. If not me, my men will be around. I don't know who found that shit about me and Damanio here won't squeal. You have somehow got him wrapped around your little finger, so fucking loyal. But, keep in mind, I will find that person and when I do, he or she, whoever it is, is dead. Capisci?" He almost growled out.

"Are you done?" I snapped, tired of listening as he threaten me for the second time within a gap of two hours. His face registered shock, and so did Danny and Chris's. If I wasn't so beat, I would kick all their asses blindfolded. But I relented.

"I don't care if you are the fucking mafia or not. I won't give a rat's ass before beating you to pulp the next time you even try to threaten me or anyone I care about.

Speaking of which...if you are going to kill all the people I care about just to get me to shut up, better start finding yourself a new second in command. Got it, Linguini?" I spat.

Sparing a glance at Danny when I mentioned him. I didn't miss the small smile he gave me which I so badly wanted to return, but it seems during those 9 years, I had forgotten how to smile.

He may have lied to me, but he was still the same person to me who helped me through my worst of times.

Suddenly my phone which I had been holding all this time, vibrated. Lia was calling me. My savior!

"Excuse me I have to take this call." I said, not looking at any one of them. Normally I wouldn't have taken the call, but I needed a break from this drama, and Lia at the moment was the only person that could do it for me.

Or so I thought...

"Hey..." I greeted but was instantly cut off by a very excited sounding Lia.

"Put me on speaker. Now!" she demanded, she sounded like a little girl on a sugar high. Uh-oh.

"Why?" I asked, totally confused at her abnormal demand.

"Just do it!" wasn't she the impatient midget today...

"I am not in the best company Lia..."I warned her, gathering my things with one hand while holding up my phone with the other.

In the corner of my eye I could see that Lucca and Danny were again in some serious, mumbling in gibberish...I mean, Italian.

And Christopher was on his phone doing god knows what.

"I know you're with the Italian hunk, Mr. Sexy and Christopher. Now put me on speaker!" she almost shouted.

"Okay, okay. Jeez." I said and put it on speaker.

Wait, did she just call Danny...

"YO ASSHOLES!" Her shrill voice reverberated throughout the room. All the three men turned to look at me in confusion. I just shrugged and nodded towards the phone in my hand. For such a small person, her voice was sure loud.

"I am Natalia Valeri Petrov, known to the world as Lia Pierce, because I really don't like my name...but that's beside the point. The real question here is, do you know exactly how easily I could destroy your lives?" she questioned.

Did she actually expect an answer?

All three men were glaring at my phone. Poor thing, I was worried it'll burn holes in it.

"Hey don't you glare at the poor technology, it's rude. Didn't your mothers teach you that?" That got everybody's attention, including mine.

"Lia, are you in this room?" I asked looking around, the men mimicking my actions.

"Well yes I am...well, technically I am not." Her vague answer made me look out of the window, instantly.

"Oh come on, Vi. It's a 50 storey drop. I am not that crazy!" she grumbled to which I only raised my eyebrow.

"That was one time..." she growled out remembering the one time she snuck in my apartment through the window back in Chicago.

"Who the fuck are you? How long have you been listening?" Danny asked, sounding extremely pissed. Something I have not heard in a long, long time.

I look up to see an equally if not more pissed Christopher. Lucca could only be described as a livid Greek god. Breathtakingly gorgeous and dangerous.

"Ahhh...Damanio Alberto Russo. I was waiting for you to speak, thought you'd never speak." She almost sighed.

Danny's eyes widened, he exchanged a very alarmed look with Lucca, whose face was slowly turning into a sickly shade of purple.

"That's your name?" I scoffed, not knowing how to react. Danny just looked at me and shrugged giving me a sheepish smile.

"Hey no dissing my man. Yours has two middle names, that's just messed up. I mean who names their only child Lucien Vincenzo Giovanni Santos." She retorted.

I saw amusement flash through Lucca's eyes for a millisecond but so soon that I was not sure it was real, he returned back to his livid expressions.

Maybe it was my wishful thinking.

"He is not my man, Lia!"

"I am not your man!"

Danny and I shouted at once. But we were blatantly ignored.

"You're the one who found all that shit about me, aren't you?" Lucca whispered his voice so low and dangerous, almost a growl. It sent a shiver of fear down my spine.

"Shit, now I know why those Russians are attacking you from behind, you are intimidating as fuck. I almost shit myself. And I am not even standing in front of you." She said sounding a bit scared.

"How do you know this? How do you know about the Russians?" He said in the same voice, low and dangerous but this time his tone was somehow much darker.

A promise of horrible things that he could do lingering right in the corners.

"Answer me! How do you know about the fucking Russians?" his voice grew louder with each word.

"You've got quite a mouth on you, haven't you? And as for your question darling, I ain't gonna tell you about that. Yet." This girl has a serious death wish.

Maybe that's why we are friends.

Lucca took calculated steps towards the phone causing me to back up a few steps.

"Hey now, back up, no damaging the technology... or the person holding it." Lia suddenly exclaimed.

Same old Lia, she loved those fucking computers of hers more than any humans around her.

"How do you know this? How are you seeing this? Where are you?" Christopher asked.

"Christopher Adams, asshole extraordinaire. Not the most favorite person on my list." Lia deadpanned.

"You haven't even met me darling, isn't that a bit judgmental?" he asked slipping into his lady-killer charm.

I was mentally gagging.

"That's true, I have never met you, but heard enough. So thank you very much but not interested. Assholes aren't my type." She snapped, sounding irritated.

Chris sent me a quick glare but I only shrugged. I didn't say anything about him; she must've done a background check on him too.Or simply read articles about him on the tabloids.

"But to answer your questions Chris, I am somewhere so close to you guys but you'll see me, unless I want you to. And as to how I can listen to you guys, well let's just say that I am fucking amazing." She replied vaguely, I could feel my headache return.

"Elaborate please." I snapped using my free hand to massage my temples.

"Ok, ok. Jeez. Calm your tits woman and look out of the window." She said in an exasperated tone.

All of us turned to look out of the window and there suspended in the air was a floating miniature helicopter device fit with a camera on the top. She was getting our live feed from somewhere.

"Wow..." Christopher whispered still looking at the helicopter.

"Pretty neat, huh? It has a in-built microphone to get your voice feeds and-" she was cut off by an extremely angry Lucca.

"That doesn't explain how you know about the Russians."Lucca said through gritted teeth. And let me tell you something, he did not look happy.

"Now, now. If I tell you everything, what would we talk about when I get there?" She quipped.

"Lia..." my patience was running out.

"Patience Violet, all in good time my child." Her impersonation of Yoda was awful.

"Get to the fucking point, puttana! Where the fuck are you? I swear to god, the moment I see you..." Danny trailed off, his threat clearly evident in his voice.

Suddenly before she could answer there was a sharp knock on the door and everyone in the room froze for god knows what reason.

This night was turning more dramatic than a soap opera!

"That must be Shayla..."Christopher trailed walking towards the door.

Who the fuck was Shayla? Another one of his whores?

The beeping sound of the phone drew my attention back to the matter at hand. Lia just hung up on me.

"Did she just...?" Danny trailed off looking beyond pissed off. Lucca looked no better.

"Hang up on her? Yes I did." A very familiar shrill voice answered back before I could speak.

Oh, shit. This was not good.

(A/N: I thought of ending the chapter right here, but being the nice person I am. I decided to continue. So enjoy!)

Christopher moved aside to show a Caucasian beauty with short black hair perfectly layered and curved. Her pale green eyes sparkling in amusement and excitement. She was donning her usual attire of skinny black jeans, white off shoulder t-shirt and knee high boots. Her petite frame and below average height of 5'1 made her look like a teenager rather than a 22 year old grown up owning a successful business.

Natalia Peirce was back, in New York. The drama was just about to get started.

"What is a pretty lady like you doing here?" Christopher asked her, sending a quick wink in her direction.

"Well I would say, none of your fucking business, but that would be a lie." She sassed out, not even giving him a second glance she started walking towards me.

I could see that the men in the room were losing their calm. Lia had that effect on people. It was a talent, she would say.

She quickly made her way to me and enveloped me in a tight hug which I gladly returned. Turning towards Christopher she continued.

"But to answer your question... JAXTON!!" she shouted almost making me lose my ability to hear.

Immediately there was movement behind Chris and seconds later, a lanky teenager, maybe seventeen or eighteen came rushing in. His expressions wild and confused. He was wearing big square rimmed glasses, a green shirt and brown cargo pants. The beanie on his head gave him the perfect romance novel nerd look.

Seeing us, his expressions mellowed down only to replace by a smug look when he looked at Lucca and Danny.

"What's with the look, kid?" Danny snapped.

Well I couldn't blame him, he was looking at them with I look that clearly said I-own-you.

"Temper, temper. I wouldn't be so pompous, if I were you. Hacking into your security system was fucking child's play, dumbasses. If you want an improve on your firewalls, I can help you. If you...beg."

I had to give it to this kid, he has some serious balls.

"How many people know about this?!" Lucca shouted completely losing his shit.

This was directly at me as he glaring at me, that's the scariest I have ever seen him. I turned towards Lia glaring at her and she had the nerve to shrug.

"Hey, don't blame me! Remember when I told you that it was a bit tricky for me to hack into their servers?" she asked me.

I nodded remembering that she had told me this before. In my periphery I could see Lucca and Danny listening in on with curious eyes and hungry ears.

"So, this guy over here is kind of like my pet project-" she said but was cut off immediately by Jaxton.

"Hey! I am not your pet project!" he said pouting.

"Oh shut up, you crybaby! And don't cut me off again." She said, glaring at the kid. He just rolled his eyes and stood there.

"So as I was saying, Jaxton here is a little project of mine, even better at hacking than me, believe it or not. So when I was totally stuck in hacking them down, I called him in and in minutes he had mailed me all the information about that hottie, there is to know. From birth certificate to his blood group." Lia said looking me at me with what resembled to be 'mama bear pride'.

"Don't worry, he is a good kid." She added, sending a smile at Jaxton who was doing god knows what on his phone. Not even bothering to look up when Lia was talking about him. Either he is just downright modest or just rude.

My bet was on the second. He radiated the persona of a cocky git.

"Ok, so let me get this straight. This kid-" Lucca started but was cut off by a very smug looking Jaxton.

"Hacked your asses? Yes he did. Can make your extremely private life just by one little tap on his phone, extremely public on all possible social media if you touch one perfect hair on his perfect little head? Yes he can." he said referring to himself in third person.

Weird kid.

"Is that a threat, stronzo?" Lucca said, stepping forward.

His hand in his right jacket pocket of his black three piece suit, I am sure he has a gun in there.

The kid immediately paled and took a step back raising his hands up in surrender. A look of pure fear crossed his face, maybe remembering all the murders the Italian dick had committed but was never convicted of.

Stronzo, I recognized that word. It meant asshole in Italian. How do I know this? Well that's something better left unsaid.

Suddenly before anyone could say anything, Lucca's phone rang. It's shrill ringtone filling up the tensed silence of the room. Seeing the caller id he immediately picked it up.

"What do you want...I have told you never call me....what?!...madre fotuto figlio una cagna!...no, don't do anything. I am coming." As soon as he hung up, he turned to Danny who immediately nodded and left the room.

"This conversation isn't over. I will see all of you tomorrow." Saying that he turned around and left but before he exited the door, he turned around again and looked me directly in the eyes with that ridiculously perfect little smirk.

"Sweet dreams, tesoro. If you have any wet dreams about me feel free to call me, I will be just a phone call away." He said winking at me.

The suggestive smirk on his face never fading as he walked out of the door before I could reply.

"The sexual tension between you too, almost choked me." I heard Jaxton say as soon as Lucca was out of sight.

"What?!" I glared at him as Lia tried to suppress some of her laughter that threatened to spill out.

"Let's just go home. Oh, and me and Jaxton are living a floor below you, Vi." She said skipping out of the office, rainbows and unicorns flying out of her ass as Jaxton sulkily followed her.

"She is...something." I heard Christopher whisper.

I couldn't agree more, Christopher . Couldn't agree more.

***

When I was home, it was past 10:30, so naturally Caley was tucked in and fast asleep, all thanks to Clark. So after checking up on her I bee-lined directly to my room, not bothering to eat anything and after changing into something comfortable fell asleep as soon as I hit the bed.

The next morning when I woke up, it was not because of the alarm, but because the entire fucking zoo decided to hold a parade in my stomach.

I was hungry, sue me.

So after preparing a good breakfast for Caley and me which was crashed by two uninvited guests, I was finally ready for work.

After dropping Caley to school when I reached the firm building I was greeted by the usual nervous good mornings, which was nothing new to me but, Lia and Jaxton who were tagging along with me today, found it extremely amusing.

Why were they tagging along? Well apparently Lia had some discussions with Christopher, something that I was not to be told.

"They are shit scared of you." Jaxton said in a fucking singsong voice. What has him so excited at 8 in the morning?

I gave him a nasty glare, returning back to concentrating on the emails that Clark had sent me about me new client.

A business firm needing my legal advice in the matters of vandalism and arson. They wanted the guilty person convicted but didn't want the matter to blow out of proportions, negative publicity is bad publicity apparently.

"And now I know why." He said inching a bit closer to Lia who just gave him an amused look to which he just shrugged.

"Fuck off." I muttered getting off the elevator as soon as it reached my floor.

Just as I reached my desk, Clark came barging in, holding a Bluetooth earpiece in one hand and Starbucks cup in other.

"Here's your Starbucks and I have Mr. Wells on line for you. The arson and vandalism case. He has something urgent to talk to you, apparently." He said handing me the Bluetooth.

"Mr. Wells." I said, greeting him in the coldest, most professional manner possible.

"Miss Styles, we talk at last." A deep, discordant voice confabulated from the other side of the line.

"My secretary says, you wanted to talk to me?" I prodded not wanting to elongate our conversation. I powered up my Mac, opening the documents sent on this case.

"Yes, I had my assistant send you some details of the case. Now I want that motherfucker in jail for destroying my company building and costing me a huge sum. But I also want it to happen quietly. As it is our company doesn't have the best of the reputations, I don't want it to worsen. Understood?" he finished giving me the details.

"OK, Mr. Wells, but first I need to go over the case details before contacting the convict's lawyer. Once that is done I'll have my assistant contact yours." I said and soon he had hung up on me.

Scanning through the documents I found out that the person responsible for the felony was an ex-employee, so my best guess here is that the act of aggression was for some sort of revenge.

When I finished reading the first half of the documents and looked at the time to see it was already 1:30, great I missed lunch, again. Looking up I saw that at the end of the table was a ham and cheese sandwich with a note on the top.

You were too busy to even notice the time, so I took the liberty to bring in your favorite ham and cheese. You can thank me later. Eat it; don't want your ass fainting on me.

- Clark, a dedicated PA! ;)

Just as I finished my late lunch and was about to dive back into the case, Clark came in my office. His usual cheerful demeanor was mellowed down to a nervous one.

I looked up at him raising an eyebrow, silently asking him to say whatever he came for.

"C-Christopher is calling-g you in the c-conference room. He wants to talk to you about something?" his statement came out as a question.

One of the good qualities about Clark was that he was a fucking horrible liar; he couldn't lie to save his own ass.

And just now he was lying, but I decided to humor him. I needed a break anyway.

"Are you sure?" I asked him, raising an eyebrow. Questioning his already shady behavior.

"Yes? I mean, yes I am sure. He wants to talk to you. In the conference room." He said with a bit more confidence.

I got up and headed for the conference room, but as I was exiting my office I heard him mutter 'please don't kill me'. I let it go, going straight to the conference room. What's the worst that could happen?

The conference room was one of my favorite rooms in the building just because it had an amazing view. The entire wall facing the city was made of glass giving the people in the room a panoramic view of New York City from a very suitable height.

As I was looking out of the window-cum-wall, I heard some movement out of the door, thinking that maybe Christopher I didn't bother turn around.

So imagine my surprise when the voice I heard wasn't that of the smug, annoying Casanova but a deep, husky Italian.

Oh, he was definitely not Christopher.

"Buongiorno, tesoro." Lucca greeted his mood the complete opposite of last night's. He was so... mercurial.

"What are you doing here?" I snapped turning around. At the tone of my voice, his face hardened a bit but the smirk on his face didn't vanish.

"Christopher." He replied as if that was all the explanation needed.

"Me too." Those two words left my mouth before I could think; I really don't know why I was explaining myself to him.

Suddenly I heard a lock click and my attention darted to the now completely shut door. Did they...did they just lock us in here?!

This has Lia written all over it.

As soon as that thought entered my mind, my phone buzzed indicating the incoming of a message. And just as I suspected, it was Lia.

Talk it out with him. Jaxton is right the sexual tension between you two is beyond choking. I am giving you 2 hours alone with your Italian man all the doors are locked shut the only thing that you could do is to jump a 50 floor drop. So good luck.

And plus, if you guys end up fucking each other over the conference table, no need to worry because the conference room is soundproof. As soon as you finish reading this message all of our mobiles will be switched off, so don't even try. Thank me later.

"NATALIE VALERIE PETROV! Open the fucking door!!" I shouted, pounding my hands on the cushioned door.

"Oh come on, tesoro. Spending two hours with me wouldn't be that horrible. Plus this is a soundproof room, your attempts at getting out of here are useless." The over confident arrogant asshole said, his voice coming from somewhere behind me. Turning around I saw that he had made himself comfortable on one of the chairs at the table.

"You fucking knew it!" I accused him seeing that he knew what exactly was in the message that Lia sent me. He just raised an eyebrow, amusement clearly sparkling in those emeralds.

Why the fuck is he amused?!

"Now whatever are you talking about, tesoro?" he mocked me. The amusement and jeering in his tone rubbing off on me in all the wrong ways. Oh, how he infuriates me!

"Are you that desperate to be alone with me in a room that you had them all scheme the ridiculous plan?! You could have just cornered me and talk to me the normal way, and maybe I would have. But no, you took the other way, the coward way. Maybe that's what you are, a fucking coward!" I snapped at him.

Immediately his eyes darkened and in a matter of second he had me pinned against the door I was standing with my back to. My hands twisted in his, making it impossible for me to move.

"I did not scheme with them to get you alone, tesoro." This time when he spoke the Italian word it was not with its usual smugness with an underlying soft tone but this time it was with pure anger and some amount of repugnance.

I continued to stare at him, not speaking a word. Because as much as it surprised me it also made me feel dirty inside out that I was unable to reply back because I was at a loss of words. Why you may ask? Well, just because staring into those emerald orbs of fire, it made me lose my train of thought.

No, it didn't make me completely blank, but to the contrary, the clear absence of personal space between Lucca and me made me zero in on his sharp and angular features which were chisel cut to perfection. Each and every part of his face was somehow magnified for me just to stare at, or for the better word ogle at.

While I was busy ogling at this Italian version of a Greek God, he sighed loudly, bringing me back to reality. The haze of unwanted attraction clearing away from my mind.

"I did not ask them to do this, Christopher texted me too, telling me that it was your amica who suggested this plan. Apparently she says she is notorious for this and you will eventually forgive her." he explained his voice low as his thick Italian accent and husky voice caressed every word that spilled out of his mouth.

"Okay."I said my voice small and barely audible.

He nodded and headed back to the seat he was sitting on, his back facing the beautiful view outside. I took the chair opposite to his and started tapping my nails on the wooden table as I had nothing to do. I had my phone on me, but there was no battery in it.

Life fucking hates me.

The next half an hour passed without either of us speaking a word. I didn't look up from my hands knowing that his eyes never left me and were watching my every movement. Suddenly after a considerable amount of time Lucca spoke.

"Why do you hate me so much, tesoro?" he asked, pure unadulterated curiosity evident in his voice. I looked up to see him seeing me with a mixture of wry amusement, curiosity and a bit of sadness.

I sighed. Did I hate him? I don't think so.

Aren't you supposed to despise every aspect of the person you hate? And I don't. Despise, I mean.

Lucca, maybe a criminal, someone my morals and values would label as a vile creature befitting the title of a monster but he hadn't been monstrous towards me even though I was a total bitch to him. So no, I didn't hate him, I may disagree with him. But not hate.

Life is too short to hate people.

"I don't hate you, Lucca..." I said, looking him in the eye so he knows that I was being serious. His face twisted into a mixture of relief and something else I couldn't point out.

"Me neither." He said, a small smile playing at his lips, curving them in the most delectable way possible.

I was about to ask him what he meant but suddenly the glass wall of the room shattered into tiny pieces, its glass flying in every direction, its impact so hard that some of the shredded pieces were lying next to my feet.

Lucca immediately looked back in alarm. Within what seemed like nanoseconds, his gun was out and shooting had started. I looked down to see that the bullet had just grazed my left arm, leaving a bloody trail behind it.

I quickly ducked back behind the table and sat there. The initial shock wearing off slightly being replaced by the unbearable sting on my arm.

"Don't move from where you are!" I heard him shout, the shooting never seizing. How many mags were on him?!

And like hell I wasn't moving.

I know there was a spare gun in the desk beside the conference table. Christopher always kept it there for god knows what reason. So I began to crawl towards the desk, I was a little unsure because the distance between the desk and the conference table is considerable and I could easily get shot.

Oh, fuck it, I thought as I crawled towards the desk making sure as to not put weight on my left arm.

As soon as I reached the cupboard I was on my knees rummaging through the drawer looking for the Magnum 44. But before I could reach for it, a sharp pain almost split my back in two halves.

I looked down to see the top right front of my white dress shirt was covered in a fast growing circle of blood. The bullet had gone through and through because of the distance.

I was shot.

Oh shit.

We are all living corpses reaching for our time to reach our graves.

A/N:

6420 words!! That's the lengthiest I have written...ever!

Sorry for the late chapter but life is being a bitch, don't blame me.

Sooo, Violet got shot!!

What do you think will happen?

Will she survive? Of course she will, that is just a stupid question to ask.

I will try my best to update as soon as possible.

So until then happy reading, my beautiful, sexy readers!

Translations:

E vi prego di parlare in italiano, non voglio che leilo sapesse più di quanto già fa : And please speak in Italian, I do not want her to know more than it already does.

Sí: Yes

Stronzo: asshole

Amica: friend

Bougourino : good morning