Daliah's POV

I woke up the next morning to my alarm at 5 am and slapped my phone repeatedly until it shut up. I had to be up early because I needed to make breakfast for Dimitri before going to work. I knew that he would be gone for a week but I had forgotten to switch off my alarm. I didn't mind waking up early though. It was very peaceful in the morning.

Soo you might be thinking...didn't Dimitri get arrested or something considering all the shit he does? Well, yes and no.

That bastard had connections everywhere. Even in the police department. So... ipso facto... he got released after only 3 months in prison!! During his imprisonment, I was sent to a foster home which was obviously not as good as my home but as long as I was away from that monster, I was content.

Due to him having connections in the police, I couldn't even report his barbaric behaviour. I found this out the hard way. I reported him, two men came to our house to "investigate" but instead, they WATCHED him beat me up and added their own few hits.

He raped me as a punishment.

I had never felt so alone in my life. I felt disgusted by Dimitri and myself. For being so weak, for being so helpless.

But that soon changed.

Dimitri is friends with this gangster Aleksei who is Russian and literally a century older than me. I've seen him once or twice. Both of them pushed me into street fighting when I was only 15 and I almost died more times than I'd like to admit.

Soon I started improving because I realised this wasn't gonna end anytime soon and I might as well get better. I trained all day, watched every single fight, grappled with everyone, learned almost every single martial art, and the result is a woman who you don't wanna mess with or you might possibly (probably) end up dead and who also knows and understand the fighting styles of most of the major mafia gangs.

I was practically a fighting machine.

Aleksei and Dimitri would send me into street fights and bet on me. I would win obviously. Soon I became the number one street fighter at 19 years of age. I could beat the crap out of a man thrice my size, no problem. But that was not good because then Aleksei and Dimitri sent me into MORE fights which was a huge pain in the ass.

I tried to fight Dimitri once and he called Aleksei. I had him down when Aleksei turned up. We fought but he emotionally distracted me while we were throwing hands. Still, just when I thought he was about to go down, a LOT of men from his gang turned up. I fought till I my legs were about to give out but obviously 30 to 1 was not a ratio where I was at the advantage. They ended up having to tranquilise me and I killed 15 of their men and left the rest bruised or with something broken. To be honest I was so proud of myself.

I was punished by being locked up in a cell for one week with only a sports bra and shorts leaving all my scars and bruises on show. The temperature was decreased to 5 degrees. I didn't get food or water for one week. They had originally planned to keep me there for more time but I passed out on day 7 and they let me go.

I also overheard them talking while they thought I was unconscious and guess what. Dimitri sold me to Aleksei - who was, apparently, the leader of the Russian Bratva - and I was supposed to be a member of his mafia as well by becoming Aleksei's motherfucking wife and bear his children!!!! It was very hard not to react when I heard that.

I also learnt how to speak a lot of languages that are used in this dark mafia world. So, yes. This experience got me an impressive skill set but is it worth all this abuse? I don't think so.

Anyways after brushing my teeth I took a shower and wore today's clothes. I usually wear clothes that cover most of my body to hide the bruises Dimitri gives me. Today I wore black jeans, black and white sneakers and a black oversized sweatshirt. All black, just how I like it. I brushed my hair and left it open. Then I did my makeup. I had to apply a lot of concealer to hide the bruises I got on my face. Other than that I just applied some tinted lip balm.

Once I was ready I tucked the necklace mom gave me under my sweatshirt, picked up my phone and headed downstairs.

I made myself breakfast and some green tea to go with it and decided to eat on the porch so I could enjoy the chilly morning air as I bit into my toast. It was so relaxing, that I temporarily forgot about everything going on in my fucked up life and just enjoyed the moment.

Once I finished breakfast I washed my dishes, sat down on the couch and paid the bills that were pending. I worked all three shifts at the cafe I worked at so that I could earn enough money. I kept half of it to myself secretly and gave the other half to him. If I didn't he would quite literally kill me because I wouldn't 'be of use' anymore.

He always spent all the money on alcohol, cigarettes, gambling and sometimes to attract his next slut. Currently I had 100,000 euros in my bank account. Not bad, I know but I had to save some for emergencies just in case.

When I finished paying the bills I looked at the time and internally slapped myself.

9:00 am?!

The cafe opened at 8:45!

Great, now I'm late.

I scrambled to my feet, picked up the keys to my motorcycle and the house and ran to the door ignoring the protests of my legs as they were still recovering from last night. I locked it behind me and made it to my baby - my motorcycle - in record time.

I raced to the cafe and reached at 9:30. Its a long way from my home, I have to pass through these kinda creepy looking woods that has a road going through it, but I wasn't scared of someone popping out of those woods to rob me because if anything I'll kick their ass.

I walked in and was greeted with the faces of two of my least favourite people - after Dimitri and Aleksei of course - Caleb Daizo and Lisa Camor. My 'colleagues' you could say.

"CHODE AND LOUSY! How are my two favourite people in the world?" I quipped. Both of them scowled at me at the same time making me stifle a laugh.

I put on my apron and slid into the kitchen. "Daliah? Oh thank God I thought my gravestone would pop out of the coffee machine instead of espresso. I would've died without getting laid!" A voice complained.

"Oh please drama king." I sighed at Dylan, yet another barista at Cottage Cafe, like me.

He's gay by the way.

"It's not a surprise you're still a virgin. With how much of a pussy you are I doubt you even have the balls required for a man to get laid." I muttered so he wouldn't hear and then narrowed my eyes. He was holding a glass of water in a suspicious way if you know what I mean.

"Dylan don't even thi-" I was rudely cut off by ice cold water splashing my face. "That was for insulting my legitimacy of being a man." He said indignantly. "YOU'RE GONNA REGRET THAT YOU FUC-" I was cut off yet again by a deep voice speaking from the entrance.

"What's going on here?"

I swivelled around with the best expression of innocence I could muster. "Good morning Mr. Gray. Uh....there's nothing wrong I was just um.....chatting with Dylan here."

Aiden Gray, my manager - well, the manager - was leaning on the doorway to the kitchen while staring at me. "Why is there water on your face?" He inquired shooting a look towards Dylan as I internally groaned.

"I uh.. was feeling sleepy so I just splashed my face with some water." I said, trying not to stutter.

"You know if you're way too tired you can rest today, right? I don't want you to overwork yourself. You're working three shifts anyways. If you want I can drop you home right now." He said, his voice filled with concern as I caught Dylan smirking at me from the corner of my eye.

"I really appreciate your concern Mr. Gray but you don't have to worry I'm perfectly fine." I said, discreetly shooting a glare at Dylan.

He was still looking at me. God why can't he just go away and annoy Caleb and Lisa or do whatever managers are supposed to do?

"I wi-I just-uhh..*struggling noises* DYLAN HAVE YOU MADE THE MATCHA LATTE?" I randomly yelled louder than necessary after an awkward silence of 10 seconds. "Jeez woman, I'm right here no need to shout." he grumbled and gave me an amused look, "And yes I have but have you made your macchiato? It was ordered like, I don't know, 27 LIGHTYEARS AGO?" he said emphasising his words at the end.

I shot him a grateful smile before turning back to Aiden and quickly saying, "Anyways, I'mkindarunninglate so I gottagetbacktowork. Itwasnicemeetingyou Mr. Gray seeyoulater." I said in a hurry and then leaned over the door pretending to reach for something on the shelves and then pushed the door with my foot so it closed Right. In. His. Face.

Once the door closed I sighed in relief. "I think my gravestone would have popped out instead of yours if you hadn't saved me." I said while leaning over the counter. "That was awkward. And you're welcome. What can I say, I'm like, soo awesome." he grinned, flipping his imaginary hair over his shoulders and I grinned back. It stretched my cheeks and the bruise from when Dimitri had punched me started hurting but I tried to ignore it, not wanting to cause any suspicion.

I rolled up my sleeves, "Alright back to work if we want our pay checks~" I said the last bit in a singsong voice as I started reading all the due orders and preparing them.

'...my life is so amazing...(note the sarcasm)'

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A.N:- Greetings my dear oranges!! I just checked after uploading the characters page and OH MY FUCK 107 READS???!!!! ALREADY? AAAAA IM SO HAPPY!!!

So...finally, the actual story begins! Did this chapter go according to your expectations? Well I hope not because it'd be boring if you already expected stuff to happen in a book -_-

idk man i'm running out of things to write in my author's notes so from now on imma keep it short and sweet so you guys don't get bored (well unless i have smth important to tell you).

Lemme know if you spotted any errors. I will delete your comment after correcting it. Add this book to your library, vote if you liked the chapter and please comment and tell me what you think! I'll see you in Chapter 2!

Sayonara!! Akuto <3

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