Mira had never really craved social interaction until now. She rolled over in her bed and glanced down at her phone. She'd been spinning lies for the last week to her coach, her school, and Jada, excusing her absence and ultimately didn't really talk to anyone other than Leo when he occasionally felt like making a snarky remark to her or her father.

It was only nine, but she imagined Adrian was up. Hopefully he wouldn't think she was too needy for texting him about non spy related stuff.

She slipped into the bathroom and pulled out the phone he'd given her. He couldn't blame her for wanting to talk to someone given her situation right?

Mira: I never got a chance to ask before, but how's Pickles?

She was so caught up in everything yesterday she forgot to ask him the most important question of them all. She missed her chunky little pug and was convinced if he was there to snuggle with her things would be a lot easier. Adrian responded surprisingly quickly.

Unknown Number: Big guy has had no problem making himself at home. I'm worried he's beginning to think I'm his dad...

Mira giggled to herself. Who knew Adrian would have a such a soft spot for her dog.

Mira: Don't worry, I'll let you see him once we go back home so he won't think his dad abandoned him.

Unknown number: Thank god, he's already worried enough that one of his parents disappeared. Anyways, things must be pretty quiet for you to be texting me at nine in the morning.

Yes, very quiet. Too quiet.

Mira: Today my dad is having me accompany some of his men on an operation. I'm not really sure what to expect, but I have a feeling it's not exactly going to be a fun little field trip.

Unknown number: He's really going to send you out on a operation, huh? Well, I can only speak from my own experience, but operations can go south really fast. Be careful and text me afterwards.

She couldn't help the giddy smile that played across her lips. Be careful and text me afterwards. God, there was no way she was beginning to fall for the son of a mafia boss when her whole goal was to get as far away from the mafia as possible. Plus, she knew he was only doing this out of his own conscience obligation. Had he not pulled her out of that car wreck, she'd just be the barista at the local cafe and he'd just be the the hot mysterious guy who came in to get his plain black coffee.

Her hand found it's way to trace the scar on her forehead, remembering the racing emotions she l'd felt climbing out of her car after being held at gunpoint.

Her personal phone buzzed and Mira glanced down to see a text from a number she didn't recognize.

Unknown number: Hey, it's Leo. Your dad told me you'll be coming with us today. Meet down in the artillery at 10.

She frowned. Not only was she going on this operation, but it was with Leo of all people. Fantastic, just the bright little ray of sunshine she needed.

She went ahead and showered, pulling her hair up and picking out what she thought would be a practical outfit choice for whatever the day had in store for her. She grabbed a bagel from the kitchen and made her way down to the artillery.

Just the fact that she was meeting up with Leo in the artillery of all places left her uneasy.

There was a small group already gathered when Mira arrived, all shuffling about, passing along various weapons like they were suiting up to enter the battle field.

Her stomach twisted into a knot and she wondered if the bagel had been a good idea.

"Mira," Leo called out to her and motioned her over next to him. "Today's a fairly routine operation. We're delivering several cases of marijuana and cocaine to some of the local gangs."

Oh, an illicit drug delivery, how fun.

Mira nodded, subconsciously nibbling at the bottom of her lip. She wondered just how many years they'd all get if the operation got busted. For once, she felt a little better knowing how powerful the organization was.

"You nervous?" Leo raised a brow at her as he fiddled with the pistol in his hand.

"Would you even believe me if I said no?" She replied and he let out a snort.

"Yeah, absolutely not. I'd say it's a good thing you're nervous so you don't do anything stupid and cause trouble. You're only here to observe, remember that. Just sit there, but don't look pretty, these guys have a problem with keeping their hands to themselves." He said nonchalantly, reaching over and pulling what looked like a bullet proof vest from one of the racks. He handed it to her.

"Do we really need this?" She asked, surprised by such extensive measures for a routine operation.

"Us? No. You, yes. You're father would kill me if I brought you back with even a scratch." He let out a long breath. So he was handicapping her. Better than getting shot, she figured.

She slipped off her sweatshirt, thankful she wore a tank top underneath and strapped on the vest before sliding her sweatshirt back on.

He passed her some sort of strappy thing, pointing to her leg. She let it sit in her palms, looking at Leo expectantly.

"It's a drop leg holster. Now there's no way in hell I'm giving you a gun, but I'll give you a dagger just as a precaution." He moved along the next wall and picked out a small, but dangerously sharp blade. He helped her strap on the holster before slipping the knife into its little pocket.

She kept reminding herself that it was only a precaution. Hopefully.

She watched as the rest of the group loaded their guns, slipping extra ammo cartridges into their pockets.

Finally, everyone gathered around Leo, who stood at the center of the group.

"Alright everyone, you know the drill. Today the boss's daughter Mira will be joining us. Should things for some reason get out of hand, her safety is our top priority. Now let's load up, and head to the location." He lead the way out the door, everyone filing out behind him.

A woman that didn't look much older than Mira joined her side.

"Hey, I'm Elise. Leo said you'd be riding with our group so I figured I'd introduce myself." She smiled warmly. The woman seemed out of place among all the other brutish looking of their bunch, her long red hair pulled up in a high ponytail, youthful freckled face friendly.

They made their way to the first floor into a large garage that she quite frankly had no idea existed. There were another of dark cans lined up with dark tinted windows.

Elise motioned for Mira to follow her as she climbed into the back of one. Already placed inside the vehicles were several sealed crates, drugs she assumed.

She really went from snorting adderall to sitting in a van louder with top tier addictive drugs. Not exactly the upgrade she had in mind.

"Relax, we do this all the time," Elise reassured her as she sat across from Mira. She hadn't even realized how uncomfortably tense she'd become, but even with Elise's reassuring words, her muscles remained completely rigid.

Her eyes slowly took in the people sitting around her, from their faces, to the weapons the wielded. They were all leaned back casually like this was some boring field trip they'd been forced along on, not the slightest worry in any of their expressions. Red flag number 37.

They rode in silence besides some of the guys making small talk about irrelevant things like what they had for dinner or new video games that just came out.

Mira was thankful when the van finally came to a stop and they were all able to pile out. They had parked inside a large warehouse, full of crates of who knew what, flickering light illuminating the concrete floors.

Much to Mira's surprise, they weren't alone. A rather alarming number of armed individuals she didn't recognize were sprawled about, leaning against the walls, sitting on top of the crates... if she had to guess, these were the so called gang members they were doing business with.

Jesus Christ Mira, breath.

Words couldn't describe how incredibly vulnerable she felt. These men could put a bullet through her head in one swift movement.

Her chest felt tight and she began to feel light headed, but passing out was the last thing she needed to do.

Instead, she sucked in a deep breath and followed closely next to Elise as they grouped back up with the others.

"Ah, Leonardo," one of the men stepped out from the group, walking towards Leo, who smiled and walked forward in response.

"Ah, Cillian, it's been a while hasn't it old friend." Mira was pretty sure this was the friendliest she'd seen Leo. It was clear they were both putting on a friendly front, but they were so good at it, it scared her.

"You got everything we asked for?" Cillian asked, resting his hand on the gun tucked away at his hip, smile never wavering.

"Of course, you should no better by now. Forty pounds each, no more, no less." Leo replied. "Although there has been a slight price increase."  Cillian's smile fell as he cocked his head to the side.

"You never said anything about a price increase." Suddenly his tone went cold. Somehow, Leo seem unfazed by this change in attitude.

"Yes, well you know how the economy can be. They're making it harder and harder to get these into the states."

Cillian ground his teeth.

"And how much is this price increase?" He asked.

"Ten grand above the usual amount." Leo smiled, taunting the man with his nonchalance. Cillian's eyes went wide.

"Ten grand? Stop bullshitting." Cillian spat, features contorting with anger. Mira felt her breath catch in her throat as she noticed the shift in Cillian's men, all ready to back him up if need be.

"Come on now Cillian, you know I don't bullshit." Leo replied cooly. "Now, do we have a problem?"

Cillian grabbed a fistful of Leo's shirt, yanking him forward so that they were mere inches apart. Everyone around Mira reached for their weapons, but Leo raised his hand, signaling for everyone to stand down.

"That's unfortunate," Leo shoved Cillian back, reaching for his gun in one swift movement and putting a bullet straight through the man's head. The sound of the gunshot echoed through the warehouse as Cillian's body collapsed limply to the ground, blood spraying across the cement around him.

Mira gasped, her hand flying up to cover her mouth at the man's now lifeless corpse. Her entire body went numb, body trembling in absolute terror.

"All over ten grand, what a fucking waste." Leo's expression darkened as he looked up at the group of Cillian's men who stared in shock at the sight before him.

"Now I'll ask again: do we have a problem?"

That was all he needed to say as they scrambled to bring Leo duffel bags full of cash.

Mira felt Elise's hand on her arm, but she was frozen in place as people moved around her, continuing with the transaction as planned as if nothing had happened. Leo's people began unloading the crates, replacing them with bags full of cash.

Finally, Elise tugged Mira away from the scene, leading her back into the van, sliding into the scene next to her.

"Hey, are you ok?" Elise asked with a soft expression. Mira didn't say anything, she wasn't sure she could even form words if she tried, instead just robotically bobbing her head up and down.

"Just sit here and relax, alright." She patted Mira's leg like she was some scared pup before slipping out of the van to join the others.

Her body might've been numb, but her mind was racing.

It baffled her how a small disagreement turned into a full blown murder. And what was worse, how easy it had been for Leo. If anything, he seemed more annoyed by the fact that he had to kill the man than anything. Just what kind of fucking monster was he. Just how many people had he killed? How much blood did everyone else there with her have on her hands? And how did no one seem to care that someone's life had just been wiped away?