Serena POV

7:35pm.

It was time.

We are parked outside of Ricardo's residence, the place of my nightmares.

We sat in a car line at the front gates where two guards stood checking invites. There were three cars in front of us so I had time to sit and try to calm my nerves.

The house could slightly be seen from where we were but the trees covered the majority of the property.

Just the small corner that I could see brought back memories. Some were good, but most were bad, hidden in the back of my mind where I wished they would stay.

Massimo reaches over and interlaces our fingers to stop the tight grip I have on my leg through the dress.

My eyes slowly move from the house over to the handsome man sitting beside me.

"Are you okay?" He asks softly. I nod my head knowing that if I spoke no words would come out. My mouth was dry as though I had just eaten a handful of cotton balls.

I gave his hand a reassuring squeeze and forced a smile on my face.

He knew I was lying since the expression never met my eyes, but he leaned over and kissed my cheek to comfort me.

"I will be beside you the whole night," He says into my ear. "I will not let anything happen to you or any of the men."

I nod my head and lean my head on his shoulder.

I hope he was right and everything would go according to the plan we had, but knowing how these things normally went, something would happen that we didn't account for.

Realizing we were next in the carpool line, I slide the lacey mask onto my face leaving just my eyes and mouth exposed.

When mine was in place, I look over at Massimo to see his black mask already on making his eyes look darker than normal.

The car lurches forward, driving both our heads towards the driver in front of us.

"Invite?" The guard asks looking into the car. I feel my hands get sweaty as the driver hands it over to him. He looks it over for a few seconds before looking into the back where we were sat.

His eyes quickly look over Massimo without question before his eyes slide over to me. He raises an eyebrow and scans over me slowly as if looking for something. Snapping out of it, he shook his head and handed the invite back to the driver.

"Have a good night," He says to us and we both nod our heads without speaking.

The car pulls away from the guards and begins down the long driveway. I let out a breath and look at Massimo.

"Did you regonize him?" He asks and I try to place his face or name but come up empty.

"I don't think so. But he looked at me as if he thought it was me," I say with a slight shake of my head.

Massimo stays quiet as we look forward towards the house.

Everything looked the same as I remembered it.

A large fountain is placed in the center of the car roundabout with cars parked around it with guests coming out.

Everyone was dressed in their best dresses and jewelry. Most of the women were escorted by well-dressed men in tuxedos up to the front door and disappeared into the house.

When we park at the front, Massimo steps out first to open my door. He puts a hand out for me and I gladly take it while I slipped my legs out, bringing the poof of the dress with it. He gives me a light pull to help me stand up without exposing myself and I gave him a grateful smile.

Putting my arm around his, we walk up to the front door. A few groups ahead of us, I notice Chester and Spencer entering through the door and merging to the right that leads to the ballroom.

I give Massimos arm a squeeze then nudge my head to them. In the corner of my eye, I see him nod his head telling me he saw them as well.

We follow the group down the hall and towards the ballroom before stepping to the side of the hall.

Massimo leans in as if whispering in my ear. "Team one in."

Through the ear piece I hear his voice and nod to him before we continue.

"Team one, be safe." Jason says through the ear piece.

Since we fell behind the group a little, the door closed before us.

The guards stationed on either side of the door gave us a once-over before pulling the doors back open.

I nod my head to them as Massimo did as well before we moved through the door. A few feet away was the royal staircase to make our way into the crowd.

My eyes roam over the room making my pulse quicken at how many people were here. The place was packed with all different kinds of mobsters from different corners of the world.

The fear inside of me of not just being back inside this house, but being surrounded by all these crime lords sent a shiver down my spine.

Pushing the feeling aside, we make our way down the stairs. I focus on my steps to not trip and draw attention while Massimo helps lead me down smoothly.

"People are watching you," Massimo whispers into my ear when we are halfway down the stairs.

I slowly lift my head and look out to see he was right. Eyes from all over the room were trained on me.

"Are you sure nobody knows who you are?" Spencer's voice says in my ear. "Everyone in the room is eyeing you up."

I look at Massimo while continuing to descend the stairs. "All of these parties require masks to hide everyone's identity. When Ricardo would introduce me, he would make sure my face was hidden more than it is now so nobody knew what I looked like. There's no way they would know it's me. Plus I have changed my appearance way too much to be recognizable by people who met me briefly."

"I don't think it's your identity that makes them look at you," Chester's voice says in my ear. I move my eyes up and find him just to the right of the stairs, standing in front of Spencer. His eyes are trained on me along with everyone else. "It's your beauty."

I feel myself blush and turn warm at the thought and slightly shake my head.

We swiftly walk directly past Spencer and Chester with a nod and move further into the room slowly.

Some of the men turn to look at me but once Massimo shoots them a stare they turn away.

"Team two in," Lorenzo says into the ear piece.

"Team two, be safe," Jason responds.

We walk around for a while until everyone from team three checks in, meaning the place was secured by us now. All guards on watch were taken over.

"Ricardo is in the hallway leading to the ballroom. I'm guessing he's about to make a grand entrance," Jason says and I look over at Massimo. He nods his head and we take drinks from a waiter walking around.

"He will be here soon," I say and he nods his head.

"Are you holding up okay?" He asks with concern in his eyes. I look past him and start scanning the room while he does the same behind me.

"Yeah. I am used to this shit. Just ready to get the hell out of here."

"You know that's not what I'm talking about," He retorts and my eyes look back to him to see the serious look on his face.

It almost took me by surprise but I shake my head.

"This is nothing more than another job I have taken. I am here to get it done and that is all. I never let my feelings get in the way."

He seems displeased by my answer but doesn't say anything as we continue to look around.

After a few minutes, when everyone was in the room that was invited and not invited in our case, the doors opened. The room slowly quiets as someone walks through the door.

Massimo and I were standing near the back of the room with the rest of our team a little behind us. Team two was more towards the sides of the room.

When Ricardo became visible I felt anger course in my body. I clench my fists tightly together to stop myself from pulling my gun out and shooting him between the eyes.

I had to control myself or I would be the one to ruin the mission.

Taking a few deep breaths with my eyes closed, I snap my eyes back open and lock on Ricardo.

Massimo puts a hand on my lower back and rubs slowly to calm me down even more.

"Thank you all for coming to our annual party!" Ricardo's thick accent booms through the room via the microphone he was holding. I could see off to the left side of him two men were setting a tarp down and I felt the color drain from my face.

"For those of you who are new to this event, I would like to personally welcome you. During these parties, we have an activity we use to start the night. By doing this, we bring everyone here closer together and allow all truths to be brought forward," He continues and I feel my body tensing.

I finally snap my eyes from Ricardo and look over the crowd before my eyes find tonight's victims.

They are standing with drinks in their hands, completely unaware.

If I were anyone else here I would think they just blend in and have no chance of being murdered tonight in front of everyone.

But I knew better.

I saw the two bulky guards behind the couple ready to grab them. They weren't close enough that the pair would notice but I knew them as the same two who took the victims every year.

Including my parents.

My legs burned to move towards them and put a bullet in between their eyes but Massimo tightens his grip on my hand to keep me in place. He follows my gaze to the pair.

"Now, if everyone can give their attention to the stars of the evening, The Cullins!" He shouts and all heads search around before they find the pair.

They both look frozen in place before the wife drops her glass of champagne, letting it shatter to the floor. The guards quickly grab them and start dragging them to the stairs while the wife claws and the husband threw his fists everywhere.

"No!" The man yells as the guard practically drags him up the stairs. The crowd parts for them, not wanting to touch them as if they were dirty.

When they stood beside Ricardo, still being held by the guards while the wife cried and the husband pleaded with Ricardo, I took a step forward.

I had to put a stop to this.

Massimo wraps his arm around my waist to hold me against his chest.

"Calm down," Massimo whispers into my ear. I grip his arm tightly to try and pry it off but he doesn't waver. Someone joins our side and grabs onto my hand.

"It is not the time," A voice says into my ear. "We will have our time but it is not now. If you go now you will not only get yourself killed but they will still die."

I try to calm myself down but my eyes stay glued on them as they are forced to their knees.

"The cullins have betrayed the family," Ricardo yells while pulling out a gun from his waistband. "They embezzled money from me thinking I wouldn't notice. Not only that, but they have been cheating me of shipments. To bring this family back to the trust we had before, we have to cut out the weak."

He puts the gun to the wife's head and pulls the trigger. Her body falls to the ground onto the tarp as the room goes silent.

The husband looks down at his wife in fear, frozen. Memories of my father doing the same while I kicked and screamed at the bottom of the stairs filled my mind. Tears brimmed my eyes as the second shot rang through the room.

"Let the fiesta begin!"