A week after we arrived home, it was the day of the mafia ball.

I'd decided that I would make use of the Versace dress I'd bought with Ivy. I'd never got a chance to wear it in Sicily due to it being far too formal, so I thought it'd be an appropriate choice.

At least it'll give me a slight chance to fit in with all of the incredibly wealthy mafia wives.

Ivy had also been invited to the ball and had told me that she'd come round to get ready with me before it started.

She was amazing at hair and makeup and hopefully she'd make me look somewhat decent.

Over the past week, I hadn't seen much of Reed. He'd been working a lot and was still trying to stay on top of detective Hayes.

Fortunately, the detective seemed to have simmered down and wasn't much of a worry anymore.

Whenever I had seen Reed, everything had been pretty normal, although there was certainly tension between us.

After the trip, both of our feelings had been a lot more exposed, so the fact we both knew that he'd have to fake this loving relationship with Evelyn was slowly killing both of us.

I spent most of the day alone in my room. I wasn't really in the mood to see anybody today, let alone attend a grand ball to watch Reed and his fiance have a great time together.

However, I'd told myself to stop feeling sorry for myself and get over it. I was going to this ball and I was going to have a nice time with my friends.

At around 3PM, I'd decided to go into Reed's home library. I'd been spending a lot of time in there ever since I'd been banned from working.

It was a large room, with huge shelves on each wall. It had two floors and was incredible. I'd never expected Reed to have such a grand collection of books as he didn't seem like the 'bookish' type. It was quite an old room and had a lot of wooden accents, it reminded me a lot of the library in 'Beauty and the Beast'. I loved it.

When I went in, I sat in my usual comfortable armchair and pulled out a book. I'd chosen Romeo and Juliet, the tragedy written by William Shakespeare. I'd always found the story extremely sad, how Romeo and Juliet were practically forbidden from being together even though they were obviously meant for each other. However, recently it'd become one of my favourite things to read.

The book completely consumed me until I realised that I was more than halfway through. I was jolted out of my daydreaming when there was a knock at the door.

I looked up to see Reed leaning against the door frame in all his glory, smirking as he watched me become so invested in the pages in front of me.

"You like it in here, don't you?" he asked, slowly making his way to me with his hands in his pockets.

"Yeah, I suppose I do." I said, placing my book down and standing up. "How come you have a whole library to yourself and yet I've never seen you pick up a single book?"

"I used to spend a lot of time in here, but I suppose work's been taking up most of my life recently." he shrugged. "What were you reading?"

"Romeo and Juliet."

"Ah, the sad tragedy of forbidden lovers." he smiled, looking at the book on the table.

"That's the one."

"Well, I just came to find you because I wanted to see how you were feeling about the ball. I'm sorry if it's going to be awkward between you and Evelyn."

"Let's just say I don't think I'll be asked to be one of her bridesmaids for the wedding, but don't worry about me, I'll be perfectly fine."

"Are you sure? I'll try and spend most of my time with you and the guys but I'm not sure if-"

"Reed. Don't worry about it." I said, before walking past him towards the door.

"Where are you going?" he asked, turning around to see me.

"Ivy'll be here soon. I have to shower and start getting ready."

And with that, I left the room and made my way to my bedroom with a deep sigh.

As much as I loved being around Reed, I just couldn't really face him today.

~

"I'm here, I'm here!" Ivy exclaimed, running into my room with a long dress bag in hand, alongside a miniture suitcase of hair and makeup products.

"Okay, so I'm thinking of doing a french braid crown on myself and maybe putting a few loose curls in for you, possibly a half-up, half-down look?" she rambled, making extravagant hand motions around my head.

"Do whatever you want as long as it makes me look better." I smiled.

"Oh please, you could go out in a bin bag and still be the most stunning girl in the room." she scoffed

"Shut up! If anyone's going to be turning heads it's you."

"Well there's only one head I want to turn..." she mumbled.

"I guessed just as much. I'm sure Blade will be blown away."

Ivy then sat me down at my vanity table and plugged in her curling iron.

She began to mess around and fix up my hair and then she'd move onto makeup.

"Do you really think I have a chance with Blade?" she sighed.

"Are you kidding? He looks at you like you're the only girl in the world." I said, looking at her in the mirror in front of us.

"Really? You think so?"

"Absolutely. I'd be surprised if he didn't make a move on you tonight."

"I hope so."

"Me too, you're obviously both infatuated with each other and I want to see you happy."

"Thanks Jul, you're the best." she smiled, leaning down to hug me from behind. "And I promise you, we will have an amazing night. I'll make sure that you barely even notice Evelyn and Reed."

"I'll be fine Iv, I have to move on eventually and it may as well be now."

"Well, let's make sure that you're the prettiest girl in the room."

She followed by doing my hair into gorgeous curls which flowed over my shoulders. She did her own hair into a french braid crown which looked amazing in her pink hair and then she completed both of our makeup.

I barely ever wore makeup usually but this was a special occasion and I wanted to look perfect.

By the time we were finished, hours had passed and the boys were already waiting for us downstairs.

I carefully slipped on my dark green, fitted gown. The floral details looked amazing as I stared at the fabric just off my shoulders.

As the final touch, I slipped my parents locket around my neck along with a pair of silver earrings and a silver clutch to match my earrings and heels.

I looked at myself in the mirror and a smile formed on my face.

I actually looked beautiful. Maybe tonight wouldn't be as bad as I thought.

I turned to see Ivy in a long black gown which showed off her figure perfectly and her hair and makeup only improved the look.

We both looked and felt gorgeous and now I was ready for anything.

Reed's POV

Blade and I stood at the bottom of the stairs waiting for the girls to finish getting ready.

We were both wearing simple black suits and I wanted this night to go as quickly as possible.

Thankfully Evelyn would be arriving at the destination with her parents, so I didn't have to deal with her for even longer than I'd liked.

"Girls hurry up! We're going to be late!" Blade shouted up the stairs.

"We're coming Blade! You can't rush perfection." Ivy shouted back, making me laugh at Blade's frustrated expression.

They weren't even together yet and they already acted like an old married couple.

A couple of minutes later Ivy appeared at the top of the stairs with a huge grin on her face.

She looked really pretty in a long black gown with her pastel pink hair all done up.

She immediately connected stares with Blade and they couldn't take their eyes off each other. I'd never seen him so infatuated with anybody before and it caught me off guard.

Blade had never been the 'commitment' type and here he was acting like Ivy was his whole world.

I was happy to see me friend so in love.

"Okay we're ready. May I present my newest creation...Miss Julia Goldstone." she smiled, holding both hands out towards Julia's room.

In that single moment, my whole world passed before my eyes.

My mouth dropped open slightly and my eyes were wide as my eyes fixed on the magnificent woman in front of me.

Julia came out of the room in an incredible gown which showed off her figure perfectly. She looked stunning and not a hair was out of place.

Her makeup and dress made her green eyes stand out and I was absolutely speechless.

Julia always looked beautiful but this...this was another level of beauty. She looked extraordinary.

My eyes studied her entire body and as much as I loved her in that dress, I also found myself wanting to rip it off.

I'd never wanted her more than I did right now.

I'm rarely speechless but seeing her like this...I had no words good enough to describe how she looked.

"Julia, you look...breathtaking." I stammered.

"Really? It's not too much?" she asked, looking down at her dress.

"Are you kidding? It's perfect...you're perfect." I said, helping her down the stairs as she came closer to me.

"Thank you." she laughed before biting her lip slightly to hide her smile.

Oh how I loved that smile.

"We better get going then, you wouldn't want to be late for your own event." she said, looking up at me.

"I-yeah I suppose we should."

I led her out of the house, followed by Blade and Ivy who were too invested in each other to notice anything that had been said.

I wasn't sure how I was going to get through this night.

I had to watch Julia being the most eye catching woman in the room, wanting her on my arm so desperately...but I had to spend all of my time with my dreaded fiance, who could never compare to Julia no matter how hard she tried.

~

We soon arrived at our destination in the limousine and the event looked great.

The building was huge and the lights were bouncing off the walls.

When we left the car, I had to wait for Blade, Ivy and Julia to enter the building first.

Seeing as it was my event, I had to enter alone to greet everybody. Plus, I knew that if I went in there with Julia, there'd be no way that I'd be able to leave her side.

I watched as they all walked up the staircase in front of me. Blade had Ivy on his arm and Julia walked behind, waving at me with a sad smile from the top of the staircase.

I hated that I had to do this to her.

I took a deep breath in as I fixed my jacket. I then walked up the stairs and up to the huge double doors.

I made sure to walk with purpose, refusing to let a smile on my face.

I usually let my guard down around the closer people in my life, but to these people...I was heartless.

I have no mercy and I want them to fear me.

Time to get back into my mafia mind set.

When I go through those doors, I am the most dangerous person in the room and that's how it's supposed to be.

No more feelings. No more emotions. My mind is now on the mafia and only the mafia.