"So, you're saying I can't hold it like this?" I asked Carmine, a smile playing on my lips as I held the glock in my hands sideways. "All the movies do it."

"Fuck the movies, Chaya!" His accent was thick, but the humor in his voice couldn't be hid. "No movies when you're shooting. Come. Hold it regular. You'll bust a pretty eye out."

I rolled my eyes, still smiling as I fixed the gun's position and aimed at the target. "Will you buy me an eye patch if I shoot my eye out, Carmine?"

"Chaya!"

"Okay, okay, focusing." I squinted my eyes, making sure my legs were spread apart perfectly and I was standing strong. Luca stood a few feet away, his eyes intent on today's lesson. I took a deep breath in...

I held my slightly oversized clutch tight, the weight of the gun I was given before Giuseppe and I left suddenly too much to handle. "I'm scared, Giuseppe."

The other patrons at the table had no interest in us. Drinking and eating, to them this event was as normal as fucking breathing. They had no fear, their lives weren't made a mockery of as mine had recently.

"I would never let anything happen to you," he responded quietly, placing his hand on my knee. "Everything will be okay."

I shook my head. "I'm not supposed to be here, Giuseppe. You aren't either. We should be back at the apartment, cooking dinner and bitching about rent. I would be planning a new treatment plan, and you'd be watching something nerdy...Luca would still be dead in my mind."

"Everything will be normal soon."

"And if it isn't?"

He sighed, words unable to soothe my nerves. "I promise you, Chaya Wixtrom, on my fuckin' life, that I will make sure everything is normal again."

The auction was happening all around us; guests shouting their bids, drunken wives shrieking with laughter over their newest prize. I didn't understand it, and a part of me envied it. I envied that I wasn't born in this life, and that I had to work for every penny; I envied that they were born in this life and simply just had money - they didn't have to reconnect with their ex roommate, who happened to run a part of the mafia, and get thousands of dollars that way.

When I was younger, I would've loved this excitement. Now that I'm older and have seen some terrible fucking things, I hated it. I wanted to leave and never look back.

"She's making her way somewhere, let's go," Giuseppe commanded, taking my hand as he began to guide us through the busy ballroom.

My grip on my clutch got tighter as I positioned it between my forearm, my free hand now holding up my dress so I wouldn't trip. "And do what? Kidnap her? Kill her?"

He said nothing as he continued to navigate our bodies, finally reaching an empty hallway. The women made a right turn, and off we went again. 

"Well, where are you going, Chaya darling and her companion?" Yasmin's voice echoed through the hallway, stopping us in our tracks and she rounded the same corner we were desperately trying to turn to. "Not stalking someone, are we?" 

Giuseppe's body tensed, his grip on my hand getting stronger as he stood in front of me. "It's none of your business."

Yasmin laughed, peering over Giuseppe's shoulder to look into my eyes. "Oh, darling Chaya's companion, anything concerning that women is my business." 

I didn't dare to breathe, scared that any movement would start a fight. "Let's talk, Yasmin. Let Giuseppe do his job. We get along, no?" Giuseppe turned his head to me, eyes dark and narrow. He was pissed - but we needed to get this job done. Yasmin couldn't kill me so close to the ballroom - anyone could enter this hallway at any minute. Would she kill them, too? Discredit any witness to her crime, despite how many their may be? I squeezed his hand for reassurance. "Go, Gi. Hurry."

"Chaya darling will be fine," Yasmin's voice was smooth, like honey melting down your throat, "Don't worry, worker of Luca. If you hurry, you may get the answers your boss requires."

I gasped, the noise making Yasmin grin. Giuseppe looked between her and I, before eventually sighing. He muttered a quick 'fuck', now running down the hallway to catch the mysterious women and secluding Yasmin and I. 

This was it. I knew coming into this building that something would happen - I would muster up the courage that I found when going into bad neighborhoods to help children. I would muster up the courage I found when I punched and spit in Luca Blackburn's face. "Why are you here?"

"Why are you here, darling?" Yasmin paid no attention to me as she dug through her small shoulder bag, "Why would Luca send his best friend off to such a dangerous mission?"

"You know a lot about Luca."

She nodded, finally pulling out the item she was looking for - her glock. "It's my job. Tell me, what does Luca plan to do with that woman?"

I shrugged, trying to feign confidance. "He doesn't tell me much."

Yasmin shook her head, "Are we really going to play games, Chaya darling?"

The part that worried me the most was that I wasn't truly playing games. I had no idea what Luca wanted with the woman he made me stalk at the mall. "I'm being honest."

She held her glock out, one eye shut as she aimed it freely. I could no longer hear Guiseppe's footsteps; the only noise my ears could process was my rapid heartbeat.

"Here's what we're going to do, darling. I like you, Chaya. Truly, I do," perfect white teeth stuck out from a smile. "I won't kill you, no. But I will tell you something that your beloved Luca has been hiding from you."

I squinted, trying to see Yasmin as clear as I could. Why...? "What do you get out of that deal?"

Again, she smiled. "I see Luca's love interest break into pieces, leaving his defense down."

I shook my head, placing a piece of hair behind my ear. The gun in my clutch seemed to almost be calling me. "I'm not interested. Thank you for your kindness."

Guiseppe came around the corner suddenly, gasping and sweating. "She's -"

"Gone?" Yasmin answered with a smirk.  "Yes. Of course she is."

"We'll be leaving now," I snapped, motioning Giuseppe with my head to follow me. "Have a beautiful evening."

"Oh, Chaya?"

And I wish I never turned around. I wish I ignored her, and was able to tell Luca tonight was a bust.

But I turned around, and I broke my own heart.

"Tell your darling Luca that he will never find his little brother."