(Eros' POV)

As soon as a gunshot goes off, I wrap my arm around Athena's waist and instinctively whip her inside behind a wall for cover. "Shit!" she groans, looking at her bleeding right hand.

Grabbing her wrist, I take a look at her injury myself. A stretch of bloody flesh is ripped across her palm, but thankfully, it's just a nick, a long one, however. "Someone has a bad shot," I remark, pulling us further into a corner, away from the glass entrance that is being shattered by multiple bullets.

"Well, that someone is going to die." She grits her teeth together and hands me her gun. "My aim is going to be off. Can you shoot?" she asks in a mocking tone which resonates more as a challenge.

Snatching the gun from her hold, I let a smirk overtake me. "See for yourself." I cock the handgun and slowly drag my back against the wall toward the entrance. With the number of bullets piercing through the air from all different directions, there's got to be several men attacking us.

Steadying myself, I wait for the assailing to slow down. They can't possibly have unlimited ammo. When I hear a few guns being reloaded, I jump out and fire off two bullets into one man and two more into another with ease before taking cover behind the wall on the other side of the entrance, away from Athena.

"Nice!" Athena comments a bit sarcastically. "Now you only have two bullets left, idiot!"

"Well," I duck a bit and move back, yelling over the destructive fiasco, "I was making sure they actually died, so I shot them twice. And you should carry a gun that can hold more fucking rounds in it," I quip back, tightening my fingers around the grip of the gun.

With a glare my way, she removes her pointy white heels that are sprinkled with dried mud. "My bullets are cyanide-tipped. One shot anywhere will do the damn job." She looks at her bare feet and then at the abundance of glass shards plummeted on the dirty floor with the heels clasped tight in her hands.

"Are you going to heel them to death?" I scoff, trying to strategize how to get the fuck out of here. We can't escape up the stairs without getting into their line of fire, and there aren't any other options either. The people living down here won't open their doors in the midst of a full-blown shootout. So, long story short, we're basically fucked, unless someone brings backup.

"Mr. Azallion!" Athena screams at me when I don't answer her.

Turning to her, I yell, "What?"

"I need you to be here with me if we're going to survive. Stop zoning out."

"I was thinking of a plan!"

"Well, I have one," she hisses, peeking outside. "Trust me on this one. When I say run, you run up the stairs as fast as you can. Got it?"

As I nod, a wicked smirk pulls on her luscious lips. Her fingers smooth out the sole of one heel and press down, before she launches it out and shouts, "Run!"

A loud blast goes off a second later which urges me to sprint. Without stepping on the shards, she charges up the stairs with me right behind her. "You had a bomb in your fucking heel?" I query breathlessly as we continue bolting up the stairs.

"I'm always prepared," she declares out loud when we reach the hallway of my floor. Slowing our momentum, we attempt to catch our breaths. "The floor is filthy. I need shoes."

Ignoring her demand, I shake my head. "The other heel got a bomb too?"

"No," she answers and turns around to face me. Sliding the sole open of the heel, she pulls out a magazine for the gun and lays it in my hand. "There are eight in here. Use only one bullet for each man."

"Neat." Slipping the magazine into my pocket, I allow my eyes to rest on hers.

Exhaustion emitting from her body is almost palpable, but she doesn't seem much bothered by this ordeal, and I'm not even surprised. In fact, she's nothing but calm, playing with the pointy end of her heel. She twists it and out comes a sharp nail, approximately three inches long.

"What the fuck?"

She pushes my head aside and flings the heel behind me. My eyes follow the quick movement of the object whipping through the air until it wedges into a man's forehead at the end of the hall, dropping his lifeless body to the floor. "One of my finest shots," she grins in victory at her throw.

"You're fucking crazy," I state in amazement, turning my gaze from the dead man to the sexy murderer.

A leisure smile sits upon her lips as her brows subtly pinch together. "I thought you knew that, Mr. Azallion."

I chuckle, stepping closer to her. Without her heels to adorn her feet, she seems a bit shorter than usual, but she's also tall for an average woman. "And I love it." I smile before a scrawny man saunters into the hallway from the back entrance. "Fuck!" Almost immediately, I shoot the man dead and hear more footsteps stomping up the stairs. The first motherfucker that trudges into my sight gets my last bullet for the current magazine before I kick open Zeenat's door that we had been standing beside, and rush in.

"Oh my God! Please don't kill me!" Zeenat wails from her kitchen as I slam the door shut and push a heavy table in front of it.

"Zee, it's just me," I voice myself whilst shoving the loaded magazine into the gun after discarding the empty one.

"Eros?" Zeenat crawls out the kitchen slowly and gawks at me dumbfounded. "What the hell is going on?"

"Just a stupid gang around the corner trying to act tough," I reassure her and exchange a glance with Athena who shakes her head at me.

"Hey!" Athena snaps her fingers at Zeenat to gain her attention. "I need a pair of shoes."

Zeenat points to the closet next to me which prompts Athena to open it and borrow a pair of running shoes while I reach for the scarf sitting on the table. Ripping a long piece of it, I wrap it around Athena's hand to conceal the open wound in her palm. Her hand quivers a bit, not in fear, but in subtle pain that I can see quite clearly in her eyes. Leaning down, I place a tender kiss on her cheek to remind her that I'm not leaving anytime soon and will fight this with her.

Gunshots echo outside the building on the street along with screams, while numerous footsteps rumble in the hallway and get louder as they cave in toward Zeenat's apartment. "Take cover!" Athena commands, abruptly jerking me into Zeenat's bedroom which causes us to tumble onto the little bed as bullets go off.

"Well, we just jumped right into bed, didn't we?" I smirk before she kicks me to the floor and climbs on me.

"Careful. Your girlfriend is watching," she whispers, but I still hear her voice over the gunfire as she begins to remove her white blazer. "You might give her the wrong impression of us."

"There is an 'us'," I emphasize. Sitting up with her straddling my lap, I mischievously smirk up at the woman. "She's not my girlfriend." Securing one arm around her, I quickly pull us up to our feet with her body pressed tightly against mine. "And peaches," I tip my head and whisper into her ear, "You're the one removing your clothes and giving her the wrong impression."

          Her mouth and brow quirk up amusedly before she nudges my chest back. "Don't get too excited, Mr. Azallion. Let's survive first, and then I'll see what we actually are. And you," she looks behind and yells at Zeenat over the bullets breaking down the door and piercing into the apartment, "Hide, and don't breathe a word of this." Blanketing the blazer around her fist, she punches through the window next to us and shatters the glass, breaking shards stuck to the side. "Jump out right now, and catch me when I do. My head is spinning a bit due to the booze. I won't land on my feet."

"I can't promise to not drop you." I wink and crawl out the window to stand on the ledge. Considering they taught me how to land carefully on my feet during my escort training, jumping down three floors into the side alley is a piece of cake. I should've questioned back then about the excessive training in combat, but I'm not complaining now. It has certainly helped me and it's still saving my ass.

After landing safely on my feet, I gaze back up and hold my arms out for her to perfectly fall into. She chuckles when I stumble back a bit on impact before she places a tender kiss on my lips. "Good job!" she praises, slipping out of my arms and shaking up her body. Prickling chills pull on her beautiful skin due to the freezing temperature out here. I'd give her my hoodie, but I'm literally abandoned in a flimsy tank top myself which won't warm her up. The other option is to hug her and warm her up with the heat of my body itself, but we're literally in the middle of a battle, so it's a bad idea. If we survive this, I'm going to kiss her, hug her, and love her to death. Fuck! This woman deserves it more than anyone, and I want to show her everything good in life.

"Get the gun ready," she orders.

           "It's just the two of us," I state the obvious as she twists the diamonds on her two rings into sharp, pointy little weapons shaped like a miniature pyramid, leaving me stunned again. "What other weapon are you wearing on you?"

Smirking smugly, she bends over to reveal two knives strapped to her legs under her pants. She whips them out, swirling those two weapons between her fingers. "I design my own things, remember?"

"I don't ever remember them having nails and bombs in them."

"Well, I always had this extraordinary vision and I put it to work last month while you were sulking like a baby," she drawls out sassily and glances up at the window we jumped from before she pulls me closer to the wall to hide from our attackers' sight who I believe are looking for us from that very window now. "I'm just accessorizing my weapons and hiding them in plain sight. Classy, elegant, luxurious, and dangerous at the same time."

"Just like you," I counter with a smirk and peek out to look onto the street that is swarming with armed men. "Fuck! We're not going to survive this. It's just the two of us."

"Actually, my men are here." She shrugs leisurely and stealthily approaches the opening of the alley that meets the street. "The man that brought your car up was still here when they ambushed us because I'd rather not drive after chugging down three-fourths of a bottle of Absolut Vodka. He probably contacted Jackson, and now the backup is here, so we're not alone. Let's get some kills before they all die."

With a sinful grin, she stampedes into the brawling crowd, throwing her knives at two separate men at the same time and jamming the deadly metal perfectly into their throats. She then charges toward another man and knocks the gun out of his hand. Her hands grasp onto his shoulder as she flings her legs up behind him and let them wrap around his neck before she launches the man to the muddy ground. The weaponized rings on her fingers jam into either side of the man's forehead, giving him a horrific shock that immediately leads to his death.

"Wow!" Her ferociousness and savagery despite the alcohol stupefies me and paralyzes my muscles for a second too long when a bullet hits the brick wall right by my face and wakes me from my temporary daze. "Bitch!"

Raising my gun, I shoot down the man and two other idiots immediately after before rushing into the main action by Athena's side who seems to be enjoying this murder-fest a bit too much. "Decided to come out and play, I see," she taunts me loudly whilst ramming her fist into a man's jaw.

"Yeah," I laugh and lodge a bullet into another man's head as if it's just an everyday task. "I thought I best keep you company and save a few men from shock therapy."

"I'm on a roll here." She looks me dead in the eye and breaks the man's arm out of place. I shudder internally at the abnormal looking limb before pulling Athena behind a car and crouching us to the ground. "What are you doing?"

"I think your men got this handled. I should get you out of here." I motion to the injury on her hand that is covered by a torn piece of fabric.

Instead of arguing with me like she usually does, she nods and agrees to my request. "I am tired anyway." Her fingers slowly lace with mine as a sweet smile that violently jerks on my heartstrings engulfs her mouth. "Take me home."

"Allow me." Jack appears out of nowhere with a scowl directed toward Athena. "Let's go." He helps her up to her feet and removes the fabric from her hand to look at the injury that stopped bleeding. "I told you to take me with you, didn't I?"

"You would've followed me out here despite what I said, and I was right considering how quickly you got here." Athena shakes her head at him and starts walking away from the action while I tuck the gun between my pants. "I know you too well by now, Jackson."

Jack doesn't say anything in return to her statement. Instead, he removes his suit jacket and props it on her shoulders to shield her body from the cold air settling with the night sky. The yellow street lights illuminate the gruesome scene that I don't feel much remorse for even though a neighbor of mine that I've known for the majority of my life got caught in the crossfire. That asshole smoked and got high with my mother, and also dragged her into drugs, so I can care less about his fucking death.

  Athena and I slip into the backseat of a Bentley while Jack gets behind the wheel. "Bring me one back alive. Contact Vincent and have some of his men to clean this up quickly. Make it look like it never happened. Someone probably called the cops. Make sure they don't show up either," the boss lady starts barking orders whilst twisting her rings back to normal. "A girl's door was gunned down on the third floor. Get that fixed. Ensure that no one recorded anything either. Destroy all their electronics and see to it that no one breathes a word of today. If they act smart, kill them and their families without a trace. No one is to be left alive."

Jack exits the car, leaving me and Athena alone. I snort and shake my head, gazing at her. "You're going to kill innocent people?"

"If they choose to babble about this occurrence, why not?" She shrugs nonchalantly before rolling her eyes. "Mr. Azallion, when have I ever been a good person?"

  "You've never been a good person?" I scoff, staggered at her moronic statement.

  "I've killed hundreds of people. I've gone to unspeakable lengths, murdering and torturing everyone in my path regardless of their age or whether they deserved it or not for the people I deem more important in my life because that's me. Mercy isn't something I abide by, hence why people call me a heartless bitch and a devil at times. This is the mafia after all." A menacing smile plays on her beautiful lips as she scoots across the fine leathered seat and inches closer to me until our knees touch. She raises her injured palm and runs my fingers across the flesh of her wound. "I have many of these all over, and they don't scare me anymore. I stopped crying a long time ago, Mr. Azallion, and that has made me into what I am today. I thrive on hurting others and that will never change. I may seem like the protagonist of this story right now, but trust me, I'm the villain in every other tale where people loathe me with everything they have."

Prolonged silence caves in on us. It's eerily peaceful and calm, but the war in her hazel green eyes is wildly chaotic and loud. Her cold fingers slowly trail over my forearm and crawl up to my jaw, stroking it softly. "In every movie, there's a conniving, seductive, and deranged vixen, and that's me in the real world. I'm always that bad guy. I don't play good, and I sure as hell don't play by the rules." Her voice is low and soft as she gazes into my eyes while my hand brushes over hers. "My nature, my attitude makes people hate me and I love the high I get from that. And when people fear me, that's even better."

Removing her hand from my face, I interlace it with mine. "I'm not afraid of you."

A lazy smile pulls on the corner of her lips. "I know."

"But I tried to hate you after you shot me. I really did," I confess in a weak whisper. "I just couldn't bring my heart to it." My hands cup her cold face, my thumbs caressing the rosy apples of her cheeks. "I've always had the hots for female villains though." I chuckle as she cracks a wider smile. "Maybe you're rubbing off on me because I'm not that bothered by the bad in you anymore. The kills and death don't faze me either." Unable to hold it in any longer, I blurt it out. "I'm head over heels for you, Athena, and I can't help it."

With her eyes fixated on mine, her brows scrunch together and her lips part ever so slightly, but nothing escapes other than the shaky breath that meddles with mine. Just a minute ago she seemed to be the strong woman I know her as, but right now, all her emotions start to break loose and involuntary dance on her face. She painfully curls her lips inward and patters her eyes shut as she leans forward and pins her forehead to mine. Her frenzy fingers tug on my thin tank top, silently asking me to pull her closer which I do without reluctance.

  "I don't know how to do this," she rasps out under her breath, before finally gazing at me. "But I want to try it with you."

"And so do I," I say whilst swiping away rogue hair from her face. "I can promise to give you something good in life, Athena."

"I'll hold you to that, so you better deliver when the time comes." She smiles sheepishly and leans in to kiss me, but a pathetic knock on her side of the window halts our romance. Fucking great!

She backs away with a sigh and opens the door. With her back to me, she dangles her legs out the car when a bleeding boy is placed at her feet by Jackson. "They have started cleaning everything up, and this boy is the last one left alive."

Athena looks over her shoulder at me and motions to the gun tucked into the waistband of my pants. I hand it over and watch the woman take charge. "Who was calling the shots?" she interrogates the boy, lifting his head up with the barrel of the gun.

"Little Pimp Masta."

"The fuck?" I burst out laughing and Jackson joins in on the cackles.

Athena seems unimpressed and slaps the boy across his face. "I don't need his street name, idiot. What's his actual name?"

"I-I'm not sure. Danny, Daniel, Dom, Don?" The boy cries while listing out a few names before deciding on one. "Donald! Yes, Donald." After convincing himself, he tells Athena the name. "It's Donald Masta."

I chuckle to myself at the last name.

"Are you sure? If you're playing me, I'll cut off your prepubescent dick," she warns him sternly.

The boy gulps, nodding frantically. "I'm sure."

"Was he working for someone?"

"He was, but I don't know who for," he answers timidly. "I was new in the gang."

"Is that all you know about this?" Jackson questions.

"Yes, sir. I swear. That's all I know."

Athena grabs the boy's jaw and holds it in place as he trembles. "How old are you?"

"Fifteen."

"Fifteen?" She gawks at him for a second before smacking him three times consecutively. "You're bloody fifteen!" Another slap lands hard on his face which makes me wince for him. "Your momma didn't whoop your ass, did she? You stupid wannabe gangster."

"I'm sorry," he sobs uncontrollably with his face buried in his hands.

"Where do you live?" she asks with an edgy tone.

"Flushing," he sniffles.

"Queens?"

"Yes," he nods.

She groans and lands another slap on the side of the boy's head. "Jackson, get one of the men to get this idiot home." Jackson obeys and leaves without the boy. "What's your name?"

"Oliver Martinez."

"Oliver," Athena grasps his jaw tightly, "I need you to listen to me very carefully. I'm willing to let you live, but don't ever breathe a word about this or else I'll make sure you suffer till your last breath."

"Yes, ma'am," he mumbles.

"Good. Stay in school and don't join any other gang." She slaps him one last time before Jackson returns with a man who pulls Oliver up to his feet. "And Oliver, I got my eyes on you, buddy. Don't screw up."

Oliver leaves with the man in a shining Mercedes, allowing Jackson to finally speak. "You're actually going to let him live?"

"He's a fifteen-year-old kid who wanted to act tough, so I put him in his place," she shrugs and slams the door shut before Jackson walks around the vehicle and gets behind the wheel. "He won't dare join another gang now. His mother didn't keep him in check."

"Ah," I laugh. "You did her job. Mother Athena!"

"Shut up!" she quips, resting her head against the window. "Coming home with us?"

"If you want me to." I cock my head to the side and wait for her to respond.

"I don't like my current assistant. Would you like your old job back?"

"Sure."I smile as she smirks smugly at me.

  "Good. Some of your clothes are still in your new apartment, so you can wear them and get new ones tomorrow."

"Sounds like a plan."

Jackson starts driving away from my neighborhood toward the city as I relax under the heat emitting from the vents of the car and watch Athena constantly stare at her wounded palm until we finally arrive at our destination. Exiting the vehicle, we all enter her private elevator. She scans her hand and punches in a few things on the screen before the metal compartment ascends up to the floor that holds the apartment I'm going to stay at.

Jackson walks out and looks back at me. "You coming? Your apartment is right next to mine. Rome is probably having a party right now as usual."

"I'll be there in a sec," I assure him but he doesn't budge.

"Are you guys a thing now?" he asks curiously.

"Just go, Jackson," Athena orders, and after a reluctant second, he strides away.

Turning back around, I notice her leaning against the metal wall with Jackson's big suit jacket still around her. She tilts her head and pulls in a long breath as I inch closer. I take her hand in mine and fan my eyes over her injury again. "Does it hurt much?" She just shakes her head no. "Do you need help patching this up?" Another head shake and nothing more. "Okay then..." I trudge out of the elevator and take a few steps before stopping myself. "Fuck this!"

   Immediately, I rush back in and slam my lips to hers in sheer hunger with the need to satiate the heat bubbling in me. She doesn't hold back either and pulls me down onto her. Our lips mush into one, our hearts racing at the same pace. All I want to do is kiss and touch every inch of her body from her head to toe. Every nook, every cranny I want to lather with red, searing bites that profess my adoration, my love for her. When I woke up this morning, seeing her wasn't something I was anticipating, and now I'm kissing her hard and rough in an elevator, squeezing her against me. She's a complete mess and so am I. The desire scorching my insides has me going wild, but I have to stop myself.

  We depart breathlessly, gazing at each other with lust and thirst still dancing on our fingertips. I lick my lips and step back, clearing my parched throat. "Um, I'll see you tomorrow I guess."

  She nods with a smile, her cheeks flushing. "Goodnight, Mr. Azallion."

  Although I don't want to leave, I still walk away after watching the elevator doors close on her face. Shit! I want more. So much more, but with time. I'm not going to push it. I can wait forever, but fuck, she has me by the fucking balls.

  Smiling at the thought of her, I make my way to the apartment that Rome and I were supposed to share. I twist the handle of the door, which was surprisingly unlocked, and saunter in only wishing to walk right back out. "What the actual fuck!" I seethe.

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It's almost 4 a.m here, but I finished the chapter. I hope you enjoyed this update and let me know. It'll read all your lovely comments when I wake up.

Your guys' wait will be over soon enough. They're getting closer and things are going to happen. 😉 But yay or nay?

Who could be behind this attack though?

Did she do a good thing by letting Oliver go?

What did Eros encounter at the end there? What could've he possibly seen that forced that reaction out of him?

Further comments are always welcome!

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Much love ❤️
~Reet