Chapter 1
Blood on the Pavement
Zaria
I was just minding my business and trying to get home and relax after a long day.
I wasn't anticipating any drama, nor did I expect anything to delay me from getting home early. All I ever wanted was to move with a straight walk from campus to my tiny apartment, the one located at Via della Luna, and to keep myself busy, I ensured employed the services of my headphones as it kept blasting afro beats, and my mind only focused on the food I left in the fridge before heading to school.
My plan was as simple as that, but fate had other plans for me.
I wasn't expecting anything to ruin my peaceful moment any time soon, until I heard a gunshot nearby.
As I was still trying to process what I should do next, a loud scream came, more of someone in danger. After the scream, followed yet another gunshot.
Then, I froze immediately.
My body alerted me to take to my heels, but as for my head? It said no.
Curiosity wasn't just a physical problem, mine was on a different level, it was very chronic.
I aborted my mission of going home and decided to find out what was happening. I made my way towards the alley, even with every instinct in my body screaming at me to go back, to abort the mission. To at least make a different decision today, and not be the girl who always takes the role of a bad decision maker in a horror movie.
But I didn't listen and still went ahead to peek anyway.
There were three men.
On a closer look, I noticed one of them was on his knees, and I could see blood gushing from his nose and mouth. He was begging for mercy, his white outfit a total mess of blood.
I observed yet another of the men with a silver-plated pistol, and this one aimed straight at his temple, to kill him completely.
And the third, I observed, had no need for a gun…
He was a complete weapon to anyone who came across him.
He was in black leather gloves, silent as a graveyard, and standing tall with a deadly look. And on his body was a suit which I'm sure cost more than my entire one-year rent. Just a look at him screamed king of the underworld in a midnight wear, dangerously beautiful.
Wait, did I just say beautiful? Well, he's undeniably beautiful. Handsome is not for persons as pretty as he is.
"Please, I beg you Don Luciano," the poor guy on his knees kept pleading for his life. "I had no idea he was your girl. I didn't even dare touch her, I swear with my life !"
I blinked in confusion.
Did I just hear Don Luciano, as in Luciano De Luca?
The very ghost and the nightmare on every lip in Italy. The one that constantly tormented clubs and bars, even the courtroom can't handle him. The Mafia Don himself? The untouchable underground god of Italy?
And this moment?
He's not far from having fun watching his fellow man die for nothing?
The other man, the one with the arms took a quick glance towards the direction of the Don. "Want me to finish him with immediate effect?"
Luciano didn't move, nor did he speak. Not even a blink to show his approval. He just bent his head like someone observing a crime scene, like the man was a piece of a puzzle.
And then, everywhere turned to blood.
I wasn't prepared for it, I was expecting him to tell them to release him, maybe kill him later, but as I was busy weighing the possible options, the man had reached the other side of the world.
I gasped in shock on realizing they actually killed the man.
That was the stupidest sound I have ever produced since my existence.
Three heads snapped in the direction of the sound, my direction actually.
Luciano's eyes didn't miss me, as they landed on me in the form of a wolf scenting weakness.
He didn't speak, which scared me remembering what happened to the man they just killed when he didn't speak. Then he took only one step, and he was before me, his gaze focused intensely on me.
I tried the first thing that crossed my mind, to run.
Well, that was only in my mind, because my legs refused to obey; my mouth was very dry, and my hands were constricted.
"What's your name girl?" That was the first thing that came out of his razor blade mouth, though smooth, but deadly.
"I...I..." I discovered my tongue tied to the roof of my mouth, my brain locked up and unable to process or come up with something reasonable for an escape.
A step closer made me smell him well. He had a spicy cologne on. I could see a leather, and a symbol of something wild lying freely beneath it, and I could swear it wasn't human, it wasn't of this world.
"You saw way too much for a girl your age," he murmured, but I still heard him clearly.
I opened my mouth to do the first thing that came to my stupid mind, to scream...
"Don't do that," he surprisingly said in a soft voice.
I didn't dare disobey him. I kept quiet like a good girl.
Then, his eyes widened as he stared at me. It was like he sensed something strange."But…for no reason, you smell like..."
Like what, please?
I watched him as he tensed, his nose flared as he continued to inhale almost all the dust in the room to confirm whatever his instincts were telling him.
Then suddenly, there was no distance between us anymore, no breathing space. He never warned me before he came that close, all I saw was him standing before me.
His masculine hand hovered over me until it landed on my throat, but shockingly not choking, not even tight, just possessively.
It was too calm for his type of person, too controlling, then, his eyes suddenly darkened
"Like mine," he replied.
The word wasn't loud, but I heard everything clearly.
"I...I have no idea of what you're talking about..." I stammered suddenly losing my voice.
"You're not as human as you think," he whispered to my hearing. "But it's not your fault."
I barely had time to process what he had said, what I could remember was panicking and the world spinning, my knees gave way, and everything became black.