V

"Milana? Is that really you?" Nico asks from the doorway. I greet him with a reserved smile and nod to answer his question.

Nico is my Godfather and for most of my life, he has done everything he can to protect me. But sometimes he can be... Intense.

I follow Nico inside and my gaze immediately falls on my mother sat with my sister at the prodigious dining table, probably discussing the ball next week. It's all they ever used to talk about. They look pretty much the same aside from my sister now has blonde streaks running through her hair.

"Milana, what the hell!" My sister, Francesca yells as she runs up to hug me. My mother doesn't venture from her seat but I heed the astounded expression on her face. "Milana!? Oh my god!" My mother suddenly yells as if something in her brain has clicked.

I am reassured when she dashes up to me and pulls me into a tight embrace. I take notice of footsteps coming from upstairs. Two of my cousins come racing down the stairs as soon as they hear my name mentioned.

"Oh look who has finally returned home!" My younger cousin Enzo says, before playfully punching me on the arm. My other cousin, Harvey doesn't seem as fussed that i'm home after all this time but flashes me a half smile and hurries back upstairs.

Whats his problem?

Fran is noticeably the happiest that I am back home, we were always the closest after all. "Just in time for the ball next week!" She says, grinning from ear to ear.

"Francesca! Your sister just arrived back home after being gone for five years and you're already talking about the ball!?" My mother snaps.

I understand that my family have lots of questions for me so I follow them to the living room and we each slump down on the commodious couch. "Where have you been for the past five years, Mila?" My mother asks, placing her hand on my knee. I sigh in inanition."I needed some time away from this life, I guess. It's been hard but i'm so glad i'm back now" I say, genuinely jubilant to be back.

Francesca opens her mouth to say something but promptly stops herself. I can tell something is playing on her mind. "Have you heard from uncle Tony?" She asks, clearly concerned about him. Hearing his name makes me sick. I shift around in my seat uncomfortably, thinking of an answer.

"No, why?" I lie.

Francesca plays with with the edge of a cushion, her expression wistful.

"He was supposed to be here today but never showed." She says, searching me for answers.

Before anyone else can bring up anything else on the topic, Harvey buts in. "Are you back for good?" He asks, with very little interest in his voice. "I'm not sure." I reply, seeing my mother's face drop with my words.

The rest of the night is spent rebonding with my family and answering all of their questions.

***

*One week later*

It is finally the night of the ball. It's all my family have talked about this week obviously aside from my arrival. I am excited but nervous to see Marco again, I haven't seen him since the hotel last week.

The Russian mafia (my mafia), The Spanish mafia, The Italian mafia (Marco's) and the Mexican mafia are attending tonight.

My whole family despise of the Mexicans. We are in an unsecured alliance with The Italian's and the Spanish but the Mexican's are the outsiders. I'm not even sure why they come to the ball considering every time they do attend, someone ends up dead.

My sister practically dragged me out dress shopping a few days ago. I picked out an alluring silk red gown with burgundy details and Fran picked out an azure gown concealed with gems and glitter that reaches the floor.

I am getting ready in her room today. She called me in for some 'girl talk' but I kind of expect that all she will talk about is the ball.

"You know the Cortez family is coming, right?" She asks, blending out the concealer under her eyes. "Yeah, why?" I ask, putting down my eyeshadow pallet and facing her. "Apparently Uncle Tony had some kind of deal with them, Mother told me." She explains. I don't reply. I just continue on with my makeup in hopes she will take my silence as a sign to change the subject.

"If Tony's gone, you know what that means, right?" She asks, finally looking away from her giant LED mirror and to me. "Yes. I will be put in a leadership position. It's being announced tonight at the ball. I spoke to mother about it yesterday." I tell her. She nods and finalises her makeup, spraying an excessive amount of setting spray everywhere.

We had the option to get out makeup done but honestly, I prefer doing it myself. Its therapeutic.

After she is done with her makeup, Fran pulls out her dress from her closet and I head back into my room to put on mine. My dress is red with gold details.



Once I have put on my dress I take out my heatless curls and camouflage a gun under my dress, strapping a few blades to my thigh instantly after. A lot of people want me dead after all and who knows what game Marco will play tonight.

As I am walking down the stairs towards the front door, I come face to face with my mother. "You really do have my genes." She jokes. I laugh and carefully step down the final two steps.

Me, Fran, Harvey, Enzo, Mom and Nico all head outside. We lay eyes on three black SUVS parked outside ready to take us to the ball. Me and Fran get in one. Harvey, Enzo and Mom in another one, and Nico wanted to go by himself for some weird reason.

Somehow Nico ended up arriving a few minutes after the rest of us although i'm sure he was directly behind us for the majority of the journey.

I am greeted by two huge metal gates with obsidian details carved into them. Three guards stand on each side. They greet us with a nod and type a code into the key pad, letting us in without hesitation.

It turns out we are the latest to arrive as everyone is already sat. My mother sits with my auntie and also some people around their age from the Spanish mafia. Today is about fully securing the alliance we have.

I need to behave myself tonight.

Francesca lets go of my hand as she takes a seat besides Marco's sister, Amelia. I used to be close to her growing up but obviously haven't spoken to her in a while. I notice Harvey and Enzo are sat near my mother engaging in convocation with a small group of people from both mafias.

I scan the room and realise I don't recognise a lot of the people here. As I am searching around the room trying to take in all the new faces, my gaze falls on Marco, who is sat next to an unfamiliar girl who is all over him.

I watch as she laughs to herself while running her fingers down his legs and arms. He undeniably isn't interested in her at all though, as all he seems to be doing is drinking whiskey straight from the bottle. My eyes don't falter as I watch him lean back and rest his head against the wall behind him. His cousin who I remember from the last ball I went to is sat on the other side of him, distracted by his phone.

Today is also about me. I need people to know that I will probably be the new leader of the Russian mafia.

I tap my glass with a knife and the room falls silent almost instantly. I stand up and once again, my eyes fall on Marco who is now looking at me with his hypnotic irises, still clutching the whiskey bottle.

"Well, I would introduce myself, but I'm sure you all remember who I am." I speak confidently, hearing whispers coming from every corner of the room.

"Now I know theres rumours going around about me, and I would just like to say that they are true." I pause for a moment, "I am now in control of the Russian Mafia."

I hear clapping, followed by whispering, followed by silence.

My announcement causes Nico's head to snap around in shock, I stare back at him as his mouth slightly falls agape.

I shrug slightly and he looks at the floor.

Did he not know?

I notice the Mexicans are all crowded in one large corner of the room. It is easy to make them out considering they all share the same stupid tattoo on their necks. Scanning their faces, I see a lot of eye rolling going on from them, but ignore it and step forward to continue with my speech.

"I'm not trying to cause issues here, just don't mess with me and my family and we wont have a problem." I flash a fake smile towards the Mexicans and watch as they whisper to each other.

Some members of my family stand up to back me, and I am about to sit down when I hear some laughter coming from their corner of the room.

"Something funny?" I call out, directing my stare towards them. Marco puts his finger to his lip in attempt to shush me and I reluctantly sit down before he stands up to speak for his Mafia.

"I hope everyone has a good night tonight and I also hope that there wont be any funny business this year. Enjoy yourselves!" He shouts before a loud applause roars in the room.

Loud music starts playing and the dance floor quickly fills up with seemingly happy couples dancing. I see a tray of champagne being carried around and pick up two glasses. I down one and sip on the other.

After finishing both glasses of champagne I walk over to Marco and snatch the whiskey bottle from him. To my surprise he doesn't put up a fight and lets me take it. I take a large sip of it and walk off.

"Where are your manners, Milana?" He calls out from behind me. I ignore him and walk over to my sister. I carefully step around the table Francesca's sitting at, occasionally taking a sip from the almost empty whisky bottle. I collapse down next to her and she rubs my shoulder.

"You okay?" She asks.

"Yeah i'm alright" I reply. She flaunts a smile on her face and turns back to her friends. I feel quite isolated from everyone else but I guess its my fault for my five year absence.

I rise onto my feet and grab another glass of champagne. I saunter across the dance floor but before I can get fully across, am spun around by someone.

"Care for a dance, Lana?" Marco asks, taking in my outfit. He smirks at my annoyance and my eyes flicker to his lips for just a second, but that one second's enough. Marco's noticed, and now he's smirking at me cheekily.

"Not with you." I reply before taking a step away. Marco grabs my arm and tugs me back towards him. "Too stubborn." He expresses as he tilts his head to the side. I roll my eyes and walk away towards some girls I have met a few times in the past.

"Milana! It's been forever!" One of the girls say, I zone out for a moment trying to remember her name. "I've missed you, Valeria." I reply, handing her a glass of champagne. She accepts it gracefully and we cheers, some of the liquid flying out from the top of the glass. We both let out a giggle and wipe ourselves down. "How have you been?" She asks, placing down her glass. "I'm doing okay. How are you?" I question through a smile.

"I'm good now that you're here" She replies. "A lot of the people here are older and I find it hard to talk to them." She explains. I nod in understanding and re-apply my lip stick.

We talk for about ten more minutes before I notice Marco approaching me again. "What is it now?" I ask, grabbing my fourth glass of champagne.

"I need to talk to you" Marco announces. He grabs my hand and leads me out of the room to an empty elevator. The elevator comes to a sharp stop and I follow him into a room attired in windows.

"We're under attack" He claims.

------------------------------------------------------- Uh oh. Thank you so much for reading! I hope you are enjoying the book so far.

rr's already know whats coming🫣