Once the dinner service was over, I took myself upstairs to my room.

I didn't want to be disturbed. I just wanted to sit in bed and erase the memories of the evening.

I know it wasn't entirely Reed's fault and he kind of helped me out, but without him I wouldn't have been here in the first place.

I just wanted to go home. I'm not cut out for the mafia.

But then again, where is home?

The only person waiting for me would be Danielle and she hasn't even tried to call me.

Having no family didn't affect me a lot but now I just felt so alone.

Being stuck in this huge house with only Ivy to occasionally talk to, just made me realise how lonely life could be.

At least before, I had a job to distract myself. Here, I have all the time in the world to let my thoughts consume me.

"Okay they're all gone." Reed said as he appeared in my bedroom doorway.

"Great." I sighed, looking up at him from my bed.

"Are you sure you're okay?" he questioned.

"Stop asking me that! You don't give a shit about me." I shouted, turning away from him.

"Look Julia, I know you hate me but you're going to have to get used to me eventually seeing as you're going to be here for a while." he said as he started walking towards me.

"Well seeing as you're so insistent on me staying here then I want to know more about you." I demanded, sitting up to face him.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, you're keeping me cooped up in this stupid house all day and night and I don't know a single thing about you. If you don't want me to hate you then you're going to have to open up a bit." I said as I crossed my arms over my chest.

He looked as though he wasn't sure how to answer me. He slowly walked over to the bed and sat beside me.

"Well, I became the capo when I was 19-"

"No Reed. I asked about you, not the stupid mafia." I sighed, getting impatient.

"I am the mafia. It's my life, there's nothing more to know." he said abruptly, almost seeming offended, before getting up to walk away.

"Oh for goodness sake, drop the act."

"Excuse me?" he said, turning around to face me. He looked annoyed but I'd pretty much stopped caring about what he might do to me.

He already had me practically locked up, away from the world.

He approached me once again and crouched down to face me. He held my chin in his hands and lifted it up to force me to stare at him, bringing me to my feet.

"Keep in mind who you're talking to." he spat.

"That's the problem. I have no fucking idea who I'm talking to." I snapped back at him. "You can't keep this act up for much longer Reed, I'll see the real you eventually."

"This is the real me." he growled. "Get used to it."

He then threw my head down harshly, pushing me back onto the bed and left the room, leaving me utterly frustrated.

This side of him slightly scared me but I was trying my best not to show it.

How can he expect me to like him when I don't even know him?

~

A couple of hours later, I turned to look at my alarm clock. 3am. Great.

I hadn't gotten a good nights sleep since I've been here. I decided to get up and get a snack seeing as I wasn't going to sleep anytime soon.

I made my way down to the kitchen, all of the lights were off but I pretty much knew my way around by now.

I was wearing some extremely short shorts as well as a cropped top due to the heat in the middle of summer, but it was fine seeing as nobody was going to see me like this.

I walked over to the fridge and opened it, the light causing me to cover my eyes. It was too bright for me in the middle of the night...or morning?

I looked for something to eat but nothing seemed to catch my eye.

"What are you doing in here?" I heard Reed's deep voice from the doorway behind me, causing me to jump out of skin.

I slammed the fridge shut and turned around, my breath suddenly heavy.

"Jesus Christ Reed, you scared me!"

"I asked you a question." he said, turning the main kitchen light on, making everything clear.

I instantly noticed that he was only wearing simple grey jogging bottoms with no t-shirt. My eyes widened slightly as I saw his defined abs. He was incredibly muscular and I mentally scorned myself for finding him so attractive.

I also noticed that he had a medium sized tattoo on his right shoulder. It was, of course, a red viper, which I automatically assumed was his gang symbol.

As the leader, I expected him to have more tattoos like the rest of the group, but it seemed that he only had the one.

It was strange seeing him wearing no suit, but I soon panicked when I realised that he was also seeing me in my very revealing pyjamas.

His eyes travelled down my body causing me to clear my throat.

"Eyes are up here buddy." I said, pointing up to my eyes.

He smirked before walking over to the fridge behind me, causing me to shuffle over to the side to keep my distance.

"I couldn't sleep, I just wanted a snack." I muttered.

"That makes two of us then." he said as he held a tub of ice cream towards me.

"You like cookie dough ice cream?" I questioned, taking it out of his hand.

"It's my favourite. Just because I'm the king of the mafia doesn't mean I can't enjoy some Ben and Jerry's." he shrugged causing me to laugh slightly.

"See, this is the kind of thing I wanted to know." I laughed, sitting down on the kitchen stool and tucking into the ice cream. "My favourite is mint choc chip."

"Good to know." he laughed. "Look, I'm sorry about this afternoon. I didn't think Ferdinand would act so inappropriately." he said blankly, taking the seat next to me.

"Wow, is the mafia king actually apologising to me?"

"Yes and it never happens so make the most of it."

I laughed before he slid the ice cream back towards himself, taking a scoop and putting it in his mouth. There was a slight awkward silence before he decided to speak again.

"I'm 26, I was born in New York, my middle name is William and my favourite food is Italian." he said blankly.

"Did you just open up to me?" I gaped.

"I don't want you to hate me Jules. I know you don't want to be here but we should at least try to get along, it'd make it easier for both of us."

"You're right. Thanks for apologising."

We looked into each others eyes, our faces resting just inches apart from one another. It was an intense moment, which he soon broke by standing up and walking back to the freezer.

"Don't take it personally. I only did it to make my own life easier. I can't have you adding even more stress and annoyance to my life." he said coldly, which I had to admit, hurt a bit.

"Oh. Okay." I said, getting up to leave the room.

Well I guess that's that moment over. Now he's back to being his horrible, unfriendly self.

"Oh and Julia?"

"Yeah?" I sighed, turning back around.

"I thought about what you said about being stuck in the house. I decided it's best to give you a job as I can't have you roaming around all day doing nothing, so you're starting work at my bar tomorrow."

"Okay."

I turned and left the room, rushing back up to my bedroom. He'd finally started to show me a glimpse of his personality but then it was as if a switch was flipped and he went straight back to his cruel self.

I could see that if I got to know the real him, we could have the chance to be friends. I might even start to like him, but that was a long way off.

At least now I have something to look forward to. I hated being stuck in this house all day doing nothing, it was so uninteresting.

My new job could keep me distracted, that way I can keep ignoring Reed's mood swings to the best of my abilities.

~

The next morning, Ivy had given me a note from Reed that he'd written before he left for work.

It said that his sister was going to take me to my new job and I was extremely nervous.

When the doorbell rang, Ivy rushed to answer it. She was followed back into the house by a very elegant looking woman. She had mid-length hair which curled perfectly and she stood tall in high heels and a tightly fitted dress.

I could definitely see that her and Reed were related.

"Hi, you must be Dawn." I greeted her nervously.

"That's me! Are you Julia Goldstone?"

I nodded at her anxiously as she brought me in for a short hug.

"Don't worry, I'm not as mean as my brother." she mumbled in my ear.

A wave of relief washed over me. With people like this around, I may find this new lifestyle somewhat bearable.

"I'm just here to explain everything to you and show you around the bar. Are you ready to go?"

I told her that I was and then followed her out to a large white Range Rover. This family certainly lived in luxury.

"So you'll be working with Kayla at the bar downtown."

"Who is Kayla exactly?"

"Well you see, Reed has many different people working for him. Most of them are fighters but some are just ordinary people like you and me."

Ordinary? Her brother is the most wanted man in the world and she thinks she's ordinary?

"So you've never been a fighter?" I asked.

"Well, I used to train and work with the gang but then I had children, you see. That's when Mateo and I decided that it would be best if one of us took a step back from the action."

"You have children? That's so sweet, I'd love to meet them."

I've always loved children. Growing up in the orphanage was like raising my own kids when I got a little older.

They're just so full of joy and imagination. Their innocence helps them see the best in the world and I love it.

"Oh that's sweet." She giggled. "Don't worry about this new job by the way. Reed's just using it to keep you busy, you don't have to take it too seriously if you don't want to."

"I actually enjoy working, but thanks for the heads up."

"Look Julia, I know you don't want to be here but I know Reed. He seems super scary at first but he's a nice guy."

"Well seeing as he killed my boyfriend and kidnapped me, I don't see him as a very nice guy. Sorry Dawn." I said, staring into my lap.

"I understand. Just give him a chance and he might surprise you, he's never saved a witnesses life before."

Her comment made me think about Reed's intentions. I honestly wasn't sure what he wanted from me but I just needed to forget about him for the time being.

After the short car journey we pulled into a small car park. I could see the bar and it looked pretty quiet, which was good for my first day.

Dawn was actually quite friendly. The exact opposite from her brother.

"Kayla, I've got the newbie for you." Dawn shouted behind the bar.

An African American woman with gorgeous purple braids appeared from behind the bar and smiled at us.

"Hey Dawny and you must be...Julia?"

"Yeah and you're Kayla?"

"That would be me. Welcome to my bar!"

"I thought it was Reed's bar?" I questioned causing both of the women to laugh.

"Reed may technically own the bar, but everyone knows that this place is mine."

"Without Kayla there would be no bar." Dawn giggled.

"Come on newbie, I'll show you the ropes." Kayla beckoned me over to her as Dawn left.

She quickly showed me around and I got the hang of everything. Fortunately it was all pretty similar to my previous job.

"So what's it like in this...lifestyle?" I asked cautiously.

"Honestly? It can be tough at times but it's worth it. Life's always interesting." she said, pouring a drink for a customer.

"If you don't mind me asking, how did you get into the mafia?"

"Well, I met Tris when I was 20 and my family didn't accept me. It was awful being discriminated against just because I love a woman, but I soon moved past it and started my new life with Tris. She was already in Reed's gang and he accepted me too. Truthfully, I'm a lover, not a fighter but Tris loves the action so I just put up with it."

"Wow that's an amazing story Kayla. I wish I had the chance to fall in love." I smiled weakly.

"Don't worry honey, you will eventually."

"I doubt it. Reed will never give me my freedom back, but I guess I'll get used to it."

"I wouldn't count on that. You never know what could happen and this life isn't all bad. Once you get to know everyone and make friends, I'm sure you'll love it."

"I guess so."