Chapter 2

Mirabel Blanco

That was all I needed to hear before heading straight to Al’s office. He was serious about this whole "kill them" plan—I knew it. He had never joked in his life. Al was always straightforward, even with his closest people, including me. “Who got killed? Where and how?” I asked firmly, walking quickly toward what I now called the Devil’s Dungeon. “It was John. He was shot in the head three times near the pizza place close to the mansion.” John?!! He was one of my closest friends here. They killed him. No—he died because of me. It was my fault. Anger surged through me as I burst into the Devil’s Dungeon. “What is this? How dare you enter my office without permission! How dare you disres—” Al shouted, but I cut him off. “It’s John. He was shot three times near the pizza place. He’s dead!” I said, gripping the edge of his polished desk. “What?” he bellowed. If I hadn’t overheard the earlier conversation, I might have believed his shock was real. “Yes, and our most likely suspect is the Italian Mafia,” someone chimed in—his name escaped me. “Those bastards!” Al fumed, demanding to be taken to the body. We all rushed out, and I followed close behind. The Italian Mafia? No, it was Al and his men’s doing. What kind of Mafia King lies to his own family? He was a sick man who couldn’t be trusted. I had known people would die because of me, but I didn’t think it would happen this soon. On the way, I imagined killing Al myself—ripping out his heart, slicing his throat, giving him a slow, agonizing death. I wanted him to feel every ounce of pain he had caused. When we stepped outside the mansion, the beauty of the place meant nothing as my eyes fell on John’s lifeless body. I forced my face to stay emotionless, locking all my feelings inside. I would unleash them later when I delivered the most painful deaths imaginable to these men. Al stared at John’s body, his face devoid of guilt or sadness. “Sad. Get rid of it—I don’t want blood stains on my property.” His guards nodded, showing respect he didn’t deserve, as he turned to leave. “What are you going to do now?” I asked, tearing my eyes away from John’s body to meet Al’s gaze. I masked my swirling emotions, showing only the cold assassin he had trained me to be for 15 years. “Nothing. We wait until the dinner. Speaking of that, meet me in my office in 15 minutes. Not a second later.” He disappeared without another word. I cracked my knuckles and went to my room, sitting on my bed, gripping the sheets as if they could stop me from storming into his office and killing him right then and there. I needed to know what was going on before the dinner in Italy. Fortunately, I had a way to listen to his plans when I wasn’t around. Standing up, I went to my “Dream World,” opened a drawer, and pulled out a box containing a small microphone. All I had to do was plant it somewhere he wouldn’t notice and use the listening device in my ear. This should be easy. Still feeling broken inside, I smirked as I left my room, the hearing device in my back pocket and the tiny microphone hidden between my fingers. I reached the Devil’s Dungeon and knocked. “Come in,” Al barked. I walked in and stopped a foot away from his desk. “What about the dinner?” I asked, keeping my voice serious. “I have a task for you,” he said. “What is it?” “Donovan Dante Lorenzo will be there when we get to the dinner. I want you to get his attention. Seduce him, but subtly—make him think it’s natural. Find out everything you can about his business, his relationships, his people, and what he cares about. But only that night—we won’t meet him again. “He’s strong, stronger than me, I’ll admit. But I want him weak. I want his empire to crumble from within. I want to destroy him. Donovan Dante Lorenzo may be on top now, but not for long. The French Mafia King is going to bury him beneath his gravestone,” Al said, an evil glint in his eyes.

I saw my chance and walked toward him, smirking with the tiny microphone hidden in my fingers. He didn’t notice as I moved behind him. For a second, he tensed, but then he quickly relaxed—so fast that it was almost imperceptible. I placed my hands on his shoulders and began massaging them. As I moved toward his neck, I slipped the microphone under his collar without him noticing. Then, leaning in close, I whispered in his ear: “He’ll never see daylight again.” With that, I pulled back and walked toward the door. “How old is he, anyway?” I asked, turning back to meet his gaze head-on. “He’s 26. A playboy. He’s got the looks, and most women call him the sexiest Greek god alive. Don’t fall for him—do you understand?” Al said, giving me a sharp look. “I don’t have time for that nonsense,” I replied before leaving the dungeon. Five minutes later, I was in my room. I put on the hearing device and focused on the conversation between Al and two twin assassins, Gerald and Maltz—just like me, except not as skilled. “I’m so sick of this! Let’s just kill her in her sleep,” Maltz growled. Rude much? “No. We need her for now,” Al replied. “She’s going to get information from Dante at the dinner, and after that, we’ll kill her. She won’t be needed anymore.” “Why are you so obsessed with bringing down Dante’s empire?” Gerald asked. “Because I want to be the king of all Mafia Kings,” Al said with a sinister edge. “I want the power he has. When his empire crumbles, I’ll take it all—money, mansions in every city, and the reputation as the most feared man in history.” “Honestly, I hate how Bella overpowers us. She’s a woman, and women should stay beneath us men,” Maltz sneered, and Gerald, along with Al, agreed. “She’s better than us at everything—killing, strategy, even games. But what I hate most is her audacity to tell me how to run my business! Who does she think she is? A whore, that’s what!” Al spat. A whore? Really? How am I a whore when I’ve never even been with a man? All because he sends me to seduce his enemies? Unbelievable. No wonder his empire is falling apart. His empire was collapsing, and he didn’t even realize it. If I hadn’t guided him with my advice, he would’ve lost everything in two days. Instead of thanking me for saving his empire, he was planning to kill me. I shook my head and listened again as Sean Martin, my ex, joined the conversation. “I never liked her, but damn, she’s got a killer body. She’s the No. 1 female assassin, so she must be wild in bed. But the bitch didn’t give it up. I waited a whole year, and nothing!” Sean ranted. Excuse me? It was ironic—they trained me to be this way, yet now they resented it. Hypocrisy at its finest. Yes, I was a virgin. Despite my line of work, I believed in the value of waiting, though I didn’t fully understand why. Sean had been the one I thought I might trust with it, but deep down, I had always doubted him. His words stung. It was clear now—he only wanted me for sex and would’ve left afterward. I had been right to hold back. Snapping out of my thoughts, I focused on their conversation again. “The dinner is in Italy, so pack up. We’re leaving early tomorrow morning and staying at the safe house for three days,” Al instructed. “How many of us are going?” Gerald asked. “Just Bella and the 13 of us. We can’t afford any disturbances,” Al said, probably smirking—I could imagine his face, and it made me want to punch him. “Of course. I’ll let the house’s bitch know she should start packing,” Sean sneered, laughing bitterly. I clenched my fists, gripping the sheets to keep my anger in check. Taking deep breaths, I managed to calm down—barely. I removed the hearing device and placed it in the drawer. Just then, the wind picked up, slamming my windows open and closed as thunder roared outside. I rushed to shut the window before the rain could soak the room. A knock sounded at the door, but before I could answer, it flew open. Sean stepped inside, leaning against the wall as the rain poured harder and harder.

"Oh look even the world has started crying because of your existence." I shot at him, giving him my coldest glare ever. "Haha very funny! Start packing, we are leaving for Italy tomorrow early in the morning." He said plainly with no emotion showing and left my room for which I was glad. I closed the door and this time I remembered to lock it before doing my business, I knew that maybe today was the last day I might have in this mansion. Sighing, I decided to blast up some music in the speakers in my room. Hey? At a time like this, I would rather listen to some music. I wasn't packing much. Only the necessities like toiletries, a few clothes, and a shit load of guns. By the time I was finished, I was totally famished and it was 9:00 pm and dinner would be served any minute so I put the suitcases aside and went downstairs to eat dinner with all the others. On my way and during dinner I couldn't help but think about what Dante looked like. Sexiest Greek God, what a tacky title. It made me wonder who came up with that. "Bella" "Bella" "Bella!" "Mirabel Blanco!" My full name being yelled out shook me out of my thoughts as I looked at the source of the voice calling my name and saw Starr looking at me weirdly. Starr was the second in command of the Mafia Family or you can say the person with the second highest rank in the family. "What?" I asked looking at everyone in the room who was staring at me. "I have been calling you for the past 5 minutes but you weren't listening, what were you thinking about?" I hadn't realized that so I had to think of a lie quickly. "How I was going to seduce the King of all Mafia Kings." This sounds exceptional. He nodded and I quickly finished my dinner. I retired to my room without bothering to say goodnight like I used to.

It was 10:15, which sounded like the time to sleep to me. I set my alarm for 6:00 am on my phone and made sure I had locked my room door before stripping into my night dress and dozing off to sleep, but one thought stayed on my mind, 'I wasn't going to die.'