Valeria Sartori
I parked my car in an abandoned parking lot before walking in the direction of the nightclub. The smell of cigarettes and piss burned my nostrils. I scoffed at the audacity.
A city under my control shouldn't smell like this.
I stopped in front of a Japanese restaurant and made my way inside. A man with an enormous belly moved in my direction.
"I have an invitation." I dismissively uttered while carefully examining the small restaurant.
The big-bellied man gave a nod of approval before leading me through the back. We took a flight of stairs down to the basement. He opened a door for me and the smell of burning marijuana and alcohol invited me in.
I pulled my face in disgust before stepping into the room. I was met with a long line of men, each sat with a Japanese girl on their lap.
Human traffickers.
I moved past them with confidence. There was seven of them. I pulled a pair of sunglasses out of my purse before propping them on my nose. On the other side of the room sat a skinny man with a cigar in his hand.
He smirked when his eyes landed on me. "Valeria Sartori, The Infamous Serpent." He announced to no one in particular as I stopped in front of him.
I slammed my purse down on his coffee table before looking into his eyes. "And you are?"
"Makai Hinata." He smirked at me.
"Where's your boss, Makai?" I asked while slowly removing the engagement ring on my finger.
"The Boss can't make it tonight. How about you and I discuss your little distribution plans." He patted the spot on his lap and a dark smile twisted his face.
My body twisted in a 360 hook kick and Makai's head snapped to the side with a wet crunch. I pulled my gun out of my waistband. I pulled the trigger and a bullet pierced his skull.
The room dawned in silence. Horrified screams followed and the girls left the room at once. The men I walked past only seconds ago all came storming at me with knives in their hands.
I sent the first guy a smirk before shooting him in the head.
I slammed my elbow into the second guy's face, grabbed the knife from his hand and slit his throat and his body hit the ground with a heavy thud.
I shot the third guy in the chest.
The fourth guy came from the side. I moved like a shadow and before he could even register, I was behind him. I snapped his neck with ease and his body hit the floor.
The fifth guy threw a knife in my direction. I shot him before he could hit his target.
The sixth guy ran toward the exit to leave but I spotted him just in time. I shot him in the back and a pathetic scream escaped his lips.
The last guy lunged at me and I ducked, his fist missed me by just a few inches. I punched him on the nose before I slammed my fist into his arm right where the shoulder met the socket. A wet pop sounded before he screamed. I shoved him into a wall and looked away before shooting him in the head.
I grabbed my bag, dropped my sunglasses inside and left the room without looking back.
I sighed as I made my way upstairs. I stopped in the center of the restaurant and shot two bullet into the roof. The customers inside the restaurant let out petrified screams before running toward the exit.
"Next time you see, Akio Takahashi, tell him to come see me in my office." I muttered before brushing a strand of hair out of my face.
The adrenaline rush was still coursing through me as I drove back to my penthouse. I was perfection. I had just crushed a major competitor without breaking a sweat.
I found Aurelio waiting for me in bed. He was busy reading something on his iPad. My handsome and loyal future husband.
He was the only good thing I had left in my life.
He wasn't part of anything bad. And the best part was that he didn't know that I was a mafia boss. He just loved me. Without the titles, without the money.
"You're late," he murmured, briefly looking up from his iPad screen. A bright smile settled on my face. I wordlessly straddled his lap before wrapping my arms around him.
"I missed you." I pulled back from. He placed a passionate kiss on my lips. But it felt like a perfomance. Tasted like regret.
He pulled back from me before locking his eyes on mine. "What have you been up to?"
"I met up with a business partner. Nothing serious." I muttered before wrapping my legs around him.
"You don't think meeting Akio Takahashi is something serious?" He asked and my head snapped back from his.
Aurelio's grip tightened on the back of my head as he pulled my hair into his fist, but his expression didn't change. "Yes, Valeria. You made yourself redundant."
"Aurelio, let me go. You're hurting me." I hissed out.
His grip on my hair tightened. "You taught me everything. You gave me Aetherian Holdings, VitaLumen, transferred the Synthesis Matrix access code. Put everything in my name."
My blood ran cold. How did he know about Aetherian Holdings? How did he know about the code?
"I didn't give you shit." I spat at him.
"You did when you signed that package I sent you last week. I used you, Vale." He whispered the last part, his breath fanning my lips. "Why else would I keep a woman who constantly needs to prove a point by my side?"
"You used me." I whispered under my breath.
"And now that I got what I wanted from you, I have to get rid of you. Like you said, your throne is my throne."
I tried to pull myself free from his grip but he held fast. He pulled a gun out of his waistband and I became paralyzed with fear. He threw me off him and the sound of a gunshot echoed through the room.
An agonizing pain spread in my chest and I tasted blood. Not the enemy's. My blood. My body writhed in pain as the bedsheets got soaked in my blood.
"I trusted you." I breathed out.
Then...
Suddenly everything around me became dark. My consciousness was pulled violently. A mixture of blue and purple light started spinning behind my eyelids.
Before I knew it my eyes shot open again. I sucked in a deep breath though it sounded more like a gasp.
One moment, I was in my penthouse, bleeding out on my bed. The next, I was surrounded by dirt.
"Where am I?" I croaked out but my voice didn't sound like mine anymore.
The searing pain in my chest was gone and I wasn't bleeding anymore. I coughed and the whole world tilted.
I struggled to lift my hand to my face. It was a small hand, covered in dirt.
Not my hand.
Suddenly, a terrified voice filled my mind. "I can't be gone! Let me out! I have to save them!"
The sound was loud enough to split my brain in half, yet there was nobody near me. The screams were all in my head.
I was alive.
But I was losing my mind.