- 'A queen will always turn pain into power'

         "What is his name?" I asked, piercing his neck slowly with my dagger as he whimpered. "I-I d-don't know", he said as Valentina smirked, "I guess you want to do it the hard way". In her hands was a knife, and she touched a tip of it with her finger, looking at me and nodding, letting her play with him as she saw fit.

              In response to her approach, he let out a small cry. "Now, face, legs or arms?" she asked as I replied, "I'd speak now if I were you". However, he did not respond. In an instant, Val cut off his index finger. Upon hearing her say, "I'm just getting started," he let out a muffled scream. She cut off his thumb as blood flowed from his hand. 

                   My attention was immediately caught by him after I removed the towel covering his mouth. He immediately said, "Ivan Volkov, he lives in Russia, but he has a base in Canada". Val looked at me and I smirked before nodding to her to kill him. 

****

              "We have a name", Silvia, my best friend and the best hacker I know, said as we both replied, "Ivan Volkov". "He lives in Russia but has a base in Canada", my sister Luciana continued as she explained, "I have located his exact location and he will be in Italy next week for a mission". "This is why we make a good team", I said with a light smile as Luciana said, "Well ladies, pack your bags, we leave first thing tomorrow for Russia". 

               "Where is Romano?" I asked Luciana, who replied, "He is with the rest of the team. There was an alert that someone was trying to get into our warehouse, and we just received a fresh batch of newly produced weapons, so he went to verify everything was ok". "Silvia, check the cameras surrounding the warehouse, Luciana, find out who was on duty when the attempted break-in occurred, I'll go there to see if I can receive any hints about who was behind it," I said, nodding. 

             Upon arriving at the warehouse, I noticed that the gate at the entrance was damaged, but not enough that I could get through. I got down from my black matte Rolls-Royce. My brother, Romano, was speaking with the team as I entered the warehouse from the emergency exit, and as soon as they noticed me, they bowed and I asked, "Any clue on who tried to break in?". "None but when we took a close look at the gate at the entrance, we found a few bullets. I've sent it to a friend of mine to find out which gun it came from and where we can find the manufacturers". I nodded and looked at the rest of the team and said, "A few things are going to change following the attempted break in, first of all the number of guards on night duty will be increased from eight guards to twelve guards, while the number remains the same for those on duty in the day, secondly, you all will be given two pistols each which will be registered into our system incase it gets missing, and lastly, any one who leaks information to any outsider will be executed with immediate effect, is that understood?". 

                "Yes ma'am, yes ma'am", they all echoed as they all went to their respective posts. I turned to my brother and told him, "I'll be leaving for Russia tomorrow with Val and the rest, we got a lead and that's the location it led us to, I'll be there for a few weeks". "Alright, I know this isn't your first time but be careful, you're not bulletproof", Romano said, concerned laced in his voice as I continued, "I know, I know I'll be careful". He pulled me into a hug as he said, "Don't do anything I wouldn't do". I chuckled saying, "No promises" as I started to walk away, I heard him yell, "You never change",  and I yelled back, "Old habits die hard".

                 As I stepped into my car, I got a call from Valentina. I immediately picked it up and she said, "I've gotten rid of him". "Ok good, we're leaving for Russia tomorrow morning", I said as there was silence through the other line before a loud scream was heard. "Oh my- are we really going to Russia, I've always wanted to go to Russia, this better not be a joke", Valentina said with happiness and a bit of hope laced in her voice. Unlike Silvia, Valentina was just like me, only she grew up in an abusive home, and was eventually put in an orphanage. Even I, had been to Italy a few times before we brought Valentina into the system but she had never been to any of our missions outside the country before mostly cause she was always at the base incase of any intruders or break-ins. 

         "Lex, you better not be kidding", she said as I responded, "I'm not, we leave first thing tomorrow, my driver will come pick you up tomorrow at exactly 9am tomorrow". "Thank you so much, Lex", she says as I nod before saying, "Anything for my best friend. And Val... stay safe". And with that we ended the call. I tell my personal driver to take us back to my house, fun fact about me- I can't drive, never learnt how to and probably never will. 

****

           I get home and as soon as I enter my house, I take off my shoes and plop myself onto my couch. Then suddenly Luciana appears from behind me as I jump, "God, you scared me". She shrugs as she sits down beside me before saying, "Tough day?". I nod, "But it's all going to be worth it in the end". "We've been at it for years and each day we get closer and closer to the killer", Lucy says as I nod getting up.

        "Where are you going?", she asks as I respond, "To get some work done". "You need a break", Lucy says as she gets up and stays in my way not allowing me go to my study. "And I'll take a break after I'm done with this mission", I said as she continued, "No way, go upstairs get changed, we are going to the club to have some fun". Leaving no room for excuses, she pushed me upstairs as I sighed walking towards my room.

        I went into my walk-in closet and picked out a black top with one sleeve and black trousers, then I paired it off with my favourite necklace that I always keep around my neck, black boots and a small bag. I did my hair into a low loose bun, grabbed my phone and headed downstairs.

           "I'm ready", I said as I walked downstairs to find Lucy on her phone. She looked absolutely stunning dressed in a black turtleneck with a black skirt. She paired it with a small black bag and black leather boots like mine.

          Growing up, I was the brains in my family, while my two older siblings had both the brains and looks especially Luciana, making me the average kid in the family. In high school, no one believed we were siblings as she looked more like mum and I looked more like dad. 

       "You look amazing Lex", she said as I smiled lightly saying, "I could say the same about you too". "I invited the girls too, I've sent the address to them, they'll meet us there", she continued as I nodded before grabbing the car keys and throwing it to her. I grabbed my gun and hers and as I turned to her, she was already staring at me with a questioning look saying, "We're just going to the club, what's the worst that could happen". "Anything", I say as I toss her gun to her before heading out of the house. We got into her car and she drove to the club while playing music along the way.

****

           We get there and everywhere's all noisy. The name of the club was GLADIATOR. "This club just opened and I hear it's one of the best clubs in this area", Luciana yells over the loud music as I nod saying, "Don't drink too much, we have a flight tomorrow remember". She nods and gives me the car keys before we both head in.

           Lucy goes to the dance floor as I stay at the bar. Val texts me that she and Silvia here and that she's the designated driver for the both of them in which I send a thumbs up emoji to her. I order a drink and as I wait, a guy comes up to me saying, "Hey". I responded saying, "Ummm.. hey". He continues saying, "You're really beautiful". The bartender brings my drink in which I thank him and give him a tip. I force a smile thanking the flirty guy for his compliment as he scoots closer to me putting an arm over my shoulder making me uncomfortable. Just as I'm about to bring out my gun, another guy comes up to me sitting beside me as he puts his arm around my waist saying, "Hey babe, is this guy disturbing you?". 

       I put back my gun into my pocket before saying,"Yeah, he is". The flirty guy then says, "Actually I was just leaving". He winks at me before leaving as I shudder in disgust before turning to the nice man saying, "Thank you, even though I was about to handle the situation". He chuckles lightly before removing his arm around my waist saying, "I know, I just didn't want you scaring people away from my club with your armed weapon". I smile lightly before holding out my hand saying, "Alexandra Young". He takes my hand into a firm handshake saying, "Dominic Loretti". I nod as we pull away before saying, "So you own this club?".

         "Yeah I do", he says as I respond, "It's nice". "I own a couple more around the city, maybe I could text you and take you to a few of them someday", he says with a smirk. I reply with a chuckle, "Is that a way of asking for my number?". Just before he was about to respond to my statement, our conversation was interrupted by my drunk of a sister. "Lex, I'm flying..Oh no I'm about to fall, catch me", she slurs as she flies her arms around as I shake my head before looking at Dominic saying, "I'm sorry about my older sister". I couldn't read the expression in his eyes as he was staring at her. I wave my hand in front of his face as he snaps out of it saying, "Yeah, yeah it's fine, wow! you two don't look alike".

          "She looks more like my mum while I look like our dad", I say as he nods and just then we hear a loud bang, I turn around to see my sister on the floor as I sigh saying, "Lucy, you're gonna injure yourself". Immediately, Dom gets up and goes to lift her up before saying, "Let's get you to your car beautiful". "Thank you so much", I say before grabbing the keys from my pocket and heading outside. I quickly text Val that we're leaving and then put my phone back in my small bag.

             As we get outside, I stop in my footsteps. "Shit!", I say as I palm my forehead. "What happened?", Dom says behind me before I reply, "I can't drive". "What?", he says before I turn around. "My driver can get you home", he continues as I say, "What about my sister's car?". "You can pick it up tomorrow here", he says as I nod thanking him before giving him my number. "Tell your sister I said 'hey' alright", Dominic chuckles looking at my passed out sister beside me before closing the door waving us off. 

           I give his driver the address to my hotel because it might be dangerous to let outsiders have the address to my home or family's home. "You're gonna be so hungover tomorrow", I say with a sigh before asking the driver if we could stop at the pharmacy to get Aspirin. 

Oh my goshhh guysss!!! The wait is finally over. First Chapter, done and dusted.

Second chapter will be out next week. 

Please don't be afraid to drop your opinions on my book in the comments or you can dm me.

Have a funtastic day!!!!

-OfficialN9