My arm feels like it's gonna fall off as I pick up my grocery bag.

It weighs like ten freaking pounds. I only came for milk, so I'm not too sure how cookies, muffins, iced coffee, and strawberries ended up in my bag. I'm definitely not responsible for it, I got reverse mugged.

"Thank you. Have a good day," the cashier smiled at me. 

"Oh, um, wait," I speak up, making her stop scanning the next person's groceries.

I open my wallet with my free hand and grab all the cash that I had on me. It was about $1000 dollars.

"Use this to pay for as many people's groceries as you can," I tell her.

Her eyes widen seeing the amount, but I turned on my heels and left the store before she could argue with me.

Snow falls onto me as I walk to my car. I love winter. 

I put my bag of groceries in my trunk and hop in, and start blasting the heat. I drive home, and the entire time I do, one guy keeps coming into my mind. 

Once I reach my house, I rush inside and into the kitchen. I start unpacking my groceries, and as I do, I bite the inside of my cheek.

Come with me.

The words echo around so much in my mind that they may very well be imprinted on it. 

The thought alone sends an eletric shock through my body. Go with him. Go with the enemy. 

But, as much as I want to, and as much as I hate my father, I can't.

I don't know enough about Reese. Of course I know his reputation, but I know nothing about him. I don't know his hopes, his aspirations, his dreams. I don't know if he wants to stay in New York, or leave. I need to know him more. 

"Hey sweetie," my mom smiles at me as she enters the kitchen.

I smile back, looking at her over my shoulder while putting the muffins in the pantry, "Hey mom!"

"We're attending a dinner tonight," she tells me, making me slowly turn around. "It's with a guy that your father wants to do business with."

My eyebrows lower and I cross my arms while I ask, "How come I have to go?"

The nervous look on her face and how she plays with her fingers make my head tilt unamusingly.

"Mom," I say in a tone that tells her to tell me. 

She sighs and drops her hand, "The man's son will be attending. We need you to come, be nice to the boy, make him like you and such. But don't worry, you'll never have to talk to him again after if you don't want."

I let out a bitter scoff. Using me, to get them a deal. 

"Dad didn't have the balls to tell me himself?"

My words make my mom shake her head and question, "What is up with you two? Your relationship used to be so good."

Used to. Until I found out all the things he's been doing in the dark. 

I open my mouth to say a few insults about my dad. But then, as an idea slowly comes into my brain, I smile. 

"Okay. I'll be ready," I tell her, complying with the plan.

She gives me a confused look as I head past her and go upstairs.

My dad wants me to go to dinner?

Okay. 

I'll go to dinner. 

«────── « ⋅ʚ♡ɞ⋅ » ──────»

With my legs crossed, I bounce my foot up and down under the table.

The elegant music playing in the expensive restaurant is what my ears focus on. 

"Hey, Marcus and Nigel!" my dad stands up, forcing a smile as he greets the two men walking over to our table. 

They smile back at him, everybody mumbling different greetings to each other. After a couple of handshakes, they all take a seat. I sit across from my dad, and beside the son, Nigel. 

"This is my daughter Azalea," he points at me. 

I force my glossy lips into a smile. Nigel shakes my hand and smiles, "Pleasure to meet you."

"Mhm," I hum. "I'm sure it is."

"I'll get the waitress over here to order," my dad says, turning in his chair and waving his fingers to signal for her to come over now.

While sitting back in my chair, I tell him in a casual tone, "Oh, could we wait a minute? My guest hasn't arrived yet."

"Your guest?" my dad repeats, his eyebrows lowering and his hands lifting off of the table.

And as if on cue, he entered.

I smiled seeing Reese approaching over my dad's head. He walked tall and proud, wearing black dress pants and a white button-up shirt. 

As Reese reaches the table and rounds it to stand beside my chair, my dad's face absolutely drops looking up and seeing him.

It makes me smirk before taking a sip of my wine.

"Hey - could you move over? Yea, thanks," Reese says while pushing Nigel's chair away with his foot.

He grabs a chair from the empty table behind us, and places it beside me, now sitting between Nigel and me.

Reese smiles innocently at my dad, "Mr Blanc! Great to see you again. God, it's felt like forever, we really need to do this more."

My dads shocked expression slowly turns to anger. But having no gun with him and being here with a business partner, he can't do anything. 

My dad continues to sit there in anger as the waitress approaches the table. 

"Hello! What can I get for you guys?" she smiles and asks, holding a pen to her small notepad. 

Before anybody can say anything, Reese speaks. 

"We'd all like the Wagyu steak - yes, the most expensive one. And the bill will be all together, courtesy of Mr Blanc," Reese fights back a smirk the entire time he speaks to the waitress. 

The look on my dad's face is so satisfying. 

"Yea," my dad forces his reply, slowly and dryly. This only amused Reese more, his smirk growing wider. 

My dad tried to initiate business conversations, but Marcus seemed hesitant in Reese's presence. He damn near looked afraid of him. 

After a couple of failed attempts at discussing business, my dad leaned back in his chair and pinched the bridge of his nose. 

"Why don't you two head out of here," my dad points to Reese and me and suggests.

I smile widely, "If you wish."

"What a shame," Reese shakes his head. "I was having so much fun."

Reese and I both rise from our seats, and my tongue ran along my top teeth as I felt victorious. Although what I did wasn't harmful or extreme, it still felt good to do something. 

Reese and I walk away, side by side, but as we get closer to the door, rushed footsteps behind me reach my ears. 

My dad, livid, blocks our way from leaving. 

"What the hell is wrong with you!" my dad whisper shouts at me, spit flying out of his mouth. "When the actual fuck did you become such a reta-"

Before he can even finish the words, Reese grabs him by the collar and slams him into the wall. I hear people gasp around us, and everybody in proximity turns to look. 

"You're so fucking lucky I don't have my gun with me, Ricci," my dad spits while Reese's grip doesn't loosen. "One day, sooner than you think, I'm gonna put a bullet in your goddamn head. And it'll be the best day of my life."

"Good thing I have mine," Reese says lowly.

"Is everything okay here?" the waitress suddenly speaks from beside us. 

Reese slowly turns to look at her. She stares with wide eyes, seeming very concerned. 

He releases my dad.

"Fine," he grumbles. 

He grabs onto my hand, and pulls me outside with him. 

The drive to my house is quick. He was just going to drop me off, but I invited him to come inside for a few minutes, since we didn't know when my dad would be back. 

"So?" he stands in front of me, tilting his head. "Have you thought about my words?"

"I have," I nod.

"And?"

"And," my voice raises an octave. "I barely know you, Reese. As much as I'd love to go with you, I need to know you."

He looks a little disappointed at my words for a moment, but then it quickly shifts to understanding and he nods.

"I'm from Russia. Got involved in the mafia there at a very, very young age. My parents were absent, leaving me to be basically raising my brother who was a baby at the time," he tells me. "I had no money. Selling drugs was a good way, but then killing people was even better. I became an assassin. The best in all of fucking Russia. But after a falling out with the don there, I left for America. Came here with my brother, who has no idea what I'm involved with. He lives in a house in a different city in New York, but I pay for all of his expenses and more. My favorite color is blue, I watch the stars every single night, and I'm so fucking captivated by you."

I take in the information from his words while also smiling from the last part. 

"Know me well enough now, Azalea?" he smiles.

His words only make me smile more.

"Captivated?" I repeat.

And in the blink of an eye, he pushes me against the wall behind me. His body presses against mine, holds my face, and tilts it up. He whispers, "I'm so much more than just fucking captivated, Azalea. God, if I thought I deserved it I would fuck you against this wall right now."

My eyes widen and both of my heartbeats start to pick up. 

"I want you, Azalea," he continues to whisper, his forehead pressing against mine. 

I feel speechless. His lips nearly skim mine. 

"Reese..." I trail off.

He shakes his head, "I'm not going to make you decide right here, and right now. I'll give you some more time to think, and I'll return tomorrow night. But just know, Azalea, if you come with me, I'll treat you the way you fucking deserve. I'll kill for you. I'll protect you. I'll do anything for you."

There's nothing more that I want at this moment than to kiss him. Kiss him, go with him, and say fuck my father. 

"I want to make him pay," I whisper. "I want him to feel the same pain he causes others."

He tucks a strand of hair behind my ear. 

"I know," he says understandingly. "I know, darling."

"I can hurt him for you," he adds. "I could send a bullet into him for every time he has hurt you."

I shake my head. I hate that I do it, but I shake my head.

"I want him to hurt," I say clearly. "Not die."

He's horrible. He's a terrible person. But I couldn't have my own dad killed. The guilt would eat at me my entire life. 

"I'm sorry," he says gently. "But this is a war now, Azalea. And it's only going to end, with him or I dying."

The words feel like a knife to my chest which gets twisted.

He takes a step back. 

"I'll be back tomorrow night," he tells me. "Think until then, my love."

I nod slightly, keeping my back pressed against the wall.

As he exits the house, I can't help but notice the shift inside of me. Loneliness. It settles into my stomach, the second he walks out of the door. 

I force myself to upstairs. I take a long and hot shower, filled with thinking. 

And after, I lay on my bed, on my back. I stare up at the ceiling, getting lost in the star projector. It feels as if I disassociate from reality for a moment. 

But then my door swings open at the speed of light. The knob slams into the wall, denting it, as my dad takes angry strides into my room. 

I jump out of my bed, and rise to my feet. 

"No business was done," he tells me. "After what you did, he was no longer interested."

"Oh, no. How sad."

The look on his face tells me that he doesn't appreciate my sarcasm. 

"Explain this to me," he says calmly despite his angry expression. "Explain to me why on Earth you are not only in contact with the enemy, but helping him."

"Because he's not my enemy," I state like a fact. "He's yours. And I don't give a single shit about helping you get your way."

His eyes turn dark. His face twists into an evil expression, one that I can read like a book. It tells me all the lives he's responsible for ruining. All the families he's torn apart. All the people he exploits.

"You don't have the fucking guts to survive in this world that you're playing in," he says darkly while taking slow steps toward me. "You have no fucking idea what you're getting involved in. You don't have what it takes to kill, to do what's necessary for the people you care about. That's me. You're weak, Azalea."

He spits his words in my face while I stand with my head held high. 

After a few moments of silence, I speak quietly, "You have no idea what I'm capable of, dad."

He laughs. It fills the room and sends a chill down my spine.

"You are capable of nothing," he seethes. "You won't survive in this world. And if you keep seeing Ricci, you'll find that out very quickly."

I just keep standing there. My face is sure to be tinted with red. 

He turns to exit my room. But I speak up the second he crosses my doorway, which makes him pause. 

"Maybe today, you don't fear me, dad," he looks at me over his shoulder the entire time I talk. "Maybe tomorrow, you won't either. Hell, maybe in a fucking year you won't. But one day you will. And when that day comes, you'll remember this. You'll remember the girl you said all of this to."

He keeps his teeth clenched as he listens to me. 

"I know I can't take you down, dad. It's impossible," I add. "But you know what I can do? I can join the world you live in, and become worse than you. I can become something you fear."

He stares at me over his shoulder for a few moments. The hate and malice in his eyes make me a little scared, but I don't dare to let it show.

"You do that, and you will lose," he over-enunciates his words.

A smirk slowly forms on my face. 

"We'll see," I reply. 

And he gives me one last look, before slamming my door shut. 

I lay back in my bed, and look up at the ceiling. A few weeks ago, saying those words to my dad would've shaken me to my core so much that I wouldn't even have dared to utter them. But now? I say them, and I'm smiling while I lay here. 

Tomorrow night, I'll choose Reese. 

And I'll start to show my dad just exactly what I'm capable of. 

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