Iris POV

Sometimes, your gut feeling is wrong. Other times, it holds more power than anyone would ever believe.

Tonight feels like one of the times where it would save my life.

The club is lit in a way that feels sensual, and the air reeks of desperation that is poorly masked with the smell of money thrown at the strippers.

Carmine tugs me toward one of the back tables where we can stay hidden enough to not be seen by the men that clearly work for Leandro.

For the next two hours, I try not to mention the fact that I feel like something is going to go wrong. Instead, Carmine and I chat about how long it'll take for Leandro to catch up with us - in sign language, of course, since Carmine is a selective mute.

Eventually, Carmine heads off to the bathroom, leaving me alone in the club.

Barely two minutes later, a hand wraps around my mouth, muffling the scream I let out when I'm dragged backwards into an empty room.

I should have seen this coming, I did, in a way, but it was not nearly enough. The person who grabbed me reeks of cigarettes in a way that almost makes me throw up.

"Today must be my lucky day. I thought I was hallucinating when I first saw the Armanelli-Romanov princess sitting all alone." The person - man - speaks, his voice scratchy and raw, overall evil, honestly.

I pretend to struggle, making sure that when I strike, it'll catch him off guard. Let him think that he nabbed a helpless girl. My brothers may not have found me that long ago, but they've already taught me a lot about fighting. Including that catching your opponent off guard is key to knocking them down.

"I think we'll have some fun before I use you to get money from your family. You're pretty enough." The man speaks again, his voice grating on my nerves.

Wow, you'd think he'd have gotten the hint that I'm not interested by the way I've been struggling.

I barely manage to hold my smile back when I remember the knife strapped to my thigh. It was a gift from Mikhail because he thought that I should never go anywhere without a weapon.

I pretend to struggle for a little while longer while the man pulls me towards the bed in the middle of the room. He throws me onto it and I take that as my cue to strike.

I grab the knife in what could only be described as the speed given to me by the adrenaline coursing through my body before I stab him in the arm. It's a non-fatal wound, but its enough to shock him before I retract the knife and stab him in the opposite arm.

Blood rushes out of his wounds as I retract the knife again before dragging it across his ugly face, giving him a permanent scar - not that he'll be alive much longer to enjoy it.

"Who do you work for?" I ask, holding my knife up.

"I work for James Young. I didn't mean any harm, I swear. I was just supposed to kidnap you." He answers. I'm not happy with the response, though, not because it's inadequate, but because I'm just not a fan. Kidnapping in general is now a sore topic for me.

I haven't restrained the man, though, so I don't know why he isn't trying to hurt me. I don't really care to find out, so I stab him in the thigh, watching as this huge barreling man goes crashing to the floor.

Wow, his pain tolerance is basically non-existent.

"See, I don't like kidnapping. It happened to me twice so far, and I'm not really a fan. So, although there won't be a next time because you won't survive this, maybe next time don't try and kidnap people?" I smile like a lunatic at the man. Should I get a name before I kill him?

"No, please, don't. I don't want to die. I'll neve-"

"Don't lie to me, old man. What's your name?" I sigh, cutting the man off.

"My name is Bob Parker."

"Bob Parker," I muse, "doesn't ring a bell. Now, you didn't annoy me too much, and I really do need to get back to my brother before he gets worried, so I'll make this quick, yeah?"

I pull the knife out of his thigh before stabbing him in the throat, cursing when blood splatters on me.

I really liked this dress. It's too pale for the blood to not stain it, though, so it'll have to go into the bin.

With a groan, I pull out my phone and call Carmine to let him know that I'm fine and that I'm in one of the rooms with a corpse.

He asks no further questions before both he and a clean up crew barge into the room.

I think I like murder. It's the most fun I've had in a while.

Carmine has the club evacuated before we leave. This time, I allow him to drive, because for the first time in a long time, I feel enough peace to fall asleep on the way there.

When I wake up, however, its to Leandro's, Slater's and Andrei's angry faces.

"Why are you covered in blood, Iris?" Leandro asks through gritted teeth.

I roll my eyes, not bothering to respond before I get out of the car and walk to my room.

Is it mean? Probably, but I can't find it in me to care when it's regarding the brother who ignored me in order to "protect" me.

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This took a long while to write. I couldn't decide what was supposed to go wrong LOL.

I dunno, its a shorter chapter than usual, slightly, anyway.

But thats it for now.

As usual, thank you for reading.

I'm not sure when the next update will be, I need to find my brain first lol.

But love u, bye.