Endless Darkness

Chapter 7

The dress is the color of the left one but the style of the right one!! No sparkled and the straps are spaghetti straps. With a slit on BOTH legs

I can finally walk around. My head still pounds with a raging headache but that is most likely from dehydration. I still don't bother getting anything to eat or drink before I walk downstairs. Koa and Roberto stand at the bottom of the steps. Both of their jaws drop.

"I knew you would look amazing in that dress," Koa says in awe.

"Pick up your jaw. You dropped it," I strut down the steps. The dress is beautiful. It's a deep shade of purple. The top of it almost looks like a corset with spaghetti straps. The bottom of the dress flows all the way down to my ankles. There is a slit in both legs so when I walk one strip of fabrics sways in between my legs and the rest flows behind me revealing my legs.

"We are going to be late. Let's go," Roberto takes my arm in his as we walk to the car.

"I'll meet you guys there," Koa goes to his own car and drives off.

Alone with Roberto, I glare at him.

As he walks over to the car he begins telling me all the rules for the night, "Don't talk to any other men. Don't look at any other men. Don't dance with any other man. Don't-"

"Do you feel threatened by other men, Roberto?" I meet Robertos glare with a calm look.

"No, I don't-" I snort and get in the car.

***

Our entrance is full of people talking.

"She killed James Parkinson."

"She is to be feared."

"She left a body on Josh's doorstep. He was missing an ear and his... his balls. She gave him a message to tell Josh too."

"She is a master torturer."

"Soon she will be more feared than The Black Ghost."

"Powerful."

"Ruthless."

"Heartless."

They couldn't have been more right about me. Powerful, ruthless, and heartless. I walk down the stops with authority. I keep my face blank. Roberto walks over to a couple of other leaders and men of power to say hello. I simply give them a tight-lipped smile and ignore the hand they put out to shake.

Roberto makes me dance with him. Three dances, he says, to show that we are together. Once we are done dancing Koa walks over.

"Care for a dance?" Koa asks me while putting out a hand for me to take.

I ignore the glare Roberto is giving and take Koa's hand. Robertos cologne is so strong I needed to getaway.

"You know, many rumors are spreading about you," Koa tells me.

"Yes, I know. Most are true you know."

Koa chuckles, "I don't doubt it, darling. Especially the heartless part." Koa doesn't know how right he is about that.

"Some say I will be even deadlier than The Black Ghost," I smile to myself at the thought.

Koa laughs, "No, you won't." I glare at him. "I am going to keep Roberto busy. You will have about one dance maybe two. Make it count."

I look at him confused but when he walks away Asura is standing there. Of course, Koa just had to get leverage on me.

"Nicole," Asura looks me up and down, "You look stunning."

"Thank you," I curtsy, "You clean up nice as well."

Asura takes my hands and we begin to spin around the ballroom.

"My men are ready and in place if you want them to infiltrate on Robertos plans. I can get them in there to steal information and even shut the whole thing down," Asura whispers in my ear.

"Infiltrate for information. I have a feeling there is more we don't know about. We don't want to-"

"What happened to your arms?" Asura asks me suddenly.

"Training and missions. I have a bad habit of using my arms to block knives. I've never been able to break it," I lie. I am the most skilled person in this room. No one could touch me with their knife. They could maybe shoot me from a distance, but any close-range fighting I will win.

"Oh, you need to fix that."

"I know. I am working on it."

The song ends and I decide to take my second dance with someone else. I nod to Asura as a way of saying goodbye. I walk over to Jake and quickly whisk him away.

"We need to show our alliance. We don't want anyone to think your mafia is weak because you just took over," I whisper to Jake. "How is it going so far?"

"Good. All the men are too scared to go against me. They think you will torture them if they do," Jake smiles and laughs.

"Well, I will if you want me to," I offer with a shrug.

"What's your plan with the arranged marriage? Why not just kill him and take his mafia?" Jake asks me.

"Because he has a bigger mafia than we know. I found papers in his office. He bought more bases and stocked them all. I also found a note with other information that I will use later too," I quickly explain the information on the latter before the song ends.

"Wow. And he doesn't know that you know?" Jake looks at me astonished.

"Nope. He doesn't have a clue."

I look over at Roberto who is looking for me. I give Jake a look and walk away quickly.

"There you are. Stay with me the rest of the night," Roberto says when I get over to him. Koa is standing next to him.

The rest of the night is spent having boring meaningless conversations that I almost fall asleep during. Koa keeps staring at me and in return, I glare at him. What an asshole.

***

"I saw you dancing with that man!" Roberto shouts at me. "You will be punished for this. I don't know how yet. Maybe I will lock you up again. Or maybe I will take your tongue like you did those other men!"

I stand there staring at him with a bored face, "Maybe you should shove me in a freezer and ship me to Antarctica," I offer him my idea.

Roberto grits his teeth, "You shut your god damn mouth or else-"

"I have an idea," Koa cuts in.

"What is your idea?" Oh no.

The annoyance must be evident on my face because Koa outright laughs at me, "I will take her to my home. Josh and I will take care of her and her attitude problems."

I freeze. I have to see Josh again. I have to look into the eyes of the person who fired the bullet at my father. I am already a prisoner in my own home, now I am going to be a prisoner in the home of my father's murderer.

"No. No, you can't. I will kill you. I will kill you and Josh and your little sister!" It was a shot in the dark really. I don't know if he has a little sister but by the reaction, I now know he does. "I swear to god I will kill you all."

"No, you won't because you will be with Josh at all times," Koa's words are sharp and sure. He knows just how to hurt me and knows Josh is my one weakness.

I take the knife out of the thigh holster on my legs and run at Koa. Full of rage I swing at his face and throat and heart. He dodges it all. Trained just as well as I am. we continue to fight. I hear Roberto yelling at me but I don't stop. I don't stop until my dagger is pointed at Koa's heart. I sit on top of him panting. Every breath he takes the dagger pokes him.

"Dead," I breathe out.

I get off of him and walk over to my maid, "Please pack my bags and have them delivered to the Lombardis home. Make sure you get everything." I hope she gets the meaning behind my words.

I walk outside and sit in Koas car not waiting for him.

(1350 words)