ALVARA

ix

― ALVARA

I HOVER AWKWARDLY AT THE DINING room entrance. Elison and Remington are already eating with a dark-haired girl and Aleksander, who looks perfectly at ease. Kaiser is nowhere to be seen. Wafts of juicy bacon float towards me, but I resist temptation.

"Are you gonna come and join us?" Remington asks casually without looking up as if she isn't the two-faced, backstabbing bitch she is.

Elison, whose back is facing me, turns around. He waves, cheeks bulging with food.

I bite on the inside of my cheek. I'm not sure how to feel about him, the son of a man who imports illegal drugs. When I first met him, he was outgoing and bubbly, always with a smile on his face, much like now. But when he pointed that gun to my head in the warehouse, his gaze was focused. Focused on killing me if I made a wrong move.

And then there's Aleksander.

A co-worker I hadn't ever been close to, but someone I had trusted nonetheless. And it turned out he'd been working with the mafia. Paranoia floods me. How many agents were truly loyal?

And look at you, quick to betray the FBI to save your own skin, a voice in my head sneers. You're no better than Aleksander and Remington. At least they've been loyal to the mafia since the beginning.

Swallowing, I turn my head and walk across the dining room to whatever room lays across the hall. My growling stomach screams in outrage, but I ignore it.

I stop when I reach a beautiful chamber. I'm not sure what its use is, but there's a beautiful wall comprised solely of glass. It overlooks a stunning view of greenery, a contrast to the looming skyscrapers I'm used to. I still. Where the hell am I?

I slump down on the couch with a sigh. A glass of half-empty scotch rests on the table. Whoever had opened it had drunk out the bottle. 

My low alcohol tolerance could never, I think as I read the label. Seventy percent. Jesus.

When I set the bottle of alcohol back on the table, my hand comes back stained scarlet. I do a double-take. Is that blood?

I jump to my feet, staring down at the couch. There's smears of... something all over the dark leather. I'm willing to bet my left foot it's blood.

For the love of all that's holy, I'm not about to trip on a corpse, am I? Or is this seriously just an average day in a house owned by some mafia dude? I wonder.

I fall over a close second.

"JESUS CHRIST, NOT AGAIN!" I scream.

A half-naked Kaiser lies on the floor behind the couch in a small puddle of blood. Stained bandages are wrapped around his entire torso.

I grab his hand and check his pulse. It flutters faintly.

"So that's where he was," a voice muses.

I look up.

Remington stands above me, flocked by Aleksander, Elison, and the other girl.

"He'll be okay," Remi says. She nods at Elison and Aleks, who heave Kaiser up. He lets out a little groan, but remains unconscious. The two boys hobble away, both grunting at Kaiser's weight.

"Aki, can you leave us alone for a sec?" Remi says softly.

The dark-skinned girl gives me an appraising look before nodding and leaving.

I stand up, wiping Kaiser's blood on my borrowed pants. I'm assuming they belong to the girl called Aki, because she could definitely pull off a cherry-red miniskirt.