So for Christmas my siblings and I got matching tattoos... it was awesome.

|| ✨ ||

Zhang Wei surged to his feet, knocking his chair over in horror. "You bitch!" he seethed, fists clenched, the handkerchief resting on his plate. Angelo Accardi, Alejandro Vigas, and Lawrence Campbell followed, scraping their chairs back, their faces one of horror.

I pulled out the bloody knife and wiped it on my dress slowly. "You know Zhang Wei, if you needed money, all you had to do was ask for a loan instead of sending your son to kill me," I hissed, holding the knife at my side.

Zhang Wei's eyes widened. "You're lying," he accused.

I laughed loudly, knowing I must look insane with my appearance. "I'm lying? I was just drugged and tied to a fucking chair and your son sent an assassin to kill me the night of your shitty gala."

Lawrence Campbell's eye narrowed as he came to stand in between us, hands in pockets, appearing unruffled. His attention focused on me. "Where did you hear this information, Anastasia?"

"From the assassin himself," I growled. I slipped the knife back in its holster on my thigh and threw out a hand dismissively. "Look, I'm not here to make ruffles, but all rules are void when you strike first, and your son has two strikes on his head," I said casually.

Mei Xiao stood from her chair and calmly made her way to us. I hadn't noticed Jasper and Elijah standing behind me, their eyes holding a predator's expression as they tracked each person. Mei clasped her hands together and lifted her chin. "Where is my son, Anastasia?"

I straightened my own posture, understanding that she was no threat to me, and pressed my bloodied fingers on my dress. "In one of the guestrooms, tied to a chair, probably crying."

A snort sounded from one side of the room but I refused to turn my head. Mei slowly nodded her head. "Thank you for bringing this to our attention, Anastasia." Zhang Wei face dropped at his wife's words and whirled on her, ready to argue. Mei only stared at him, daring him to challenge her in front of everyone.

After a moment Zhang Wei turned on his heel and stomped out of the house, hissing to his security to fetch his son. "Liling, we're leaving," Mei announced, walking over to Lisa Campbell and thanking her softly for the lovely evening.

The Campbell's stood from their seats, talking to the other guests or their security in a flurry of activity.

My brothers stepped in front of me and assessed my injuries. "You sure as hell took your time in there," Elijah commented, pointedly looking at his Rolex.

I rolled my eyes. "Apologies, he cable-tied me to the chair," I replied with a little scowl, showing them my still dislocated thumb. Elijah pulled a face.

Barely two seconds after holding up my thumb, two hands slid along my waist and twisted me around. Finn's gaze burned into my eyes as he stepped back, keeping his hands on me, and scanned my body for any injuries. His hand skated along my dress until he gripped my hand and examined my thumb. He raised a questioning eyebrow.

I fluttered my eyelashes. "You wanna do it or should I?" I asked with a teasing grin.

He shook his head, muttering to himself. Without warning, he jerked his cold fingers and my thumb popped back into place. "Fuck me, you fucking asshole," I yelled out before clamping my lips shut, glaring up at him.

A playful smile danced across his lips. He patted the back of my hand gently before dropping it. "With an audience? Ana," he tutted casually with a wink.

Hm. The surprised expression on my face quickly disappeared when Jasper huffed loudly. "I'm starving," Jasper muttered, moving to sit back in his seat as if nothing happened.

My stomach took that moment to make itself known. I peeked over Finn's shoulder. "Oh, they have chicken," I said and moved past him to find a seat next to Jasper. Elijah grinned and followed after me, sitting on Jasper's other side.

Finn sat next to me. "Are you seriously going to stay here and eat after cutting off someone's finger?" He whispered in my ear.

My hand was mid-reach for the serving fork when he spoke. I turned my head to face him. "It's chicken," I stated, stabbing a piece of chicken and putting it on my plate.

A throat cleared from down the table. "You know Ana, some of us would wash off the blood before sitting at the table, it's only polite," Sierra Vigas sniped. Barely any blood was actually on my hands, only a couple dried drops, most of it had landed on my dress.

Slowly, I lifted my head to look at her. Santiago, who sat beside her, scooched his chair away from her. "Not that you would know anything about anything, Sierra," I commented, cutting into the chicken smoothly. Kimberly chuckled from her spot across from me.

Sierra glared at me. "Well I know the blood on your dress makes it look a thousand times better."

I flipped her off with a smile. "I've already cut off one finger tonight, Sierra, I don't mind cutting off a few more," I threatened with a devilish smile. She bared her teeth, her knuckles turning pale from how tightly she held the fork in her hand.

Luis Vigas, the heir to the Vigas family, grabbed her wrist to stop her from moving. "Enough, Si, you're embarrassing yourself," he scolded, leaning back in his seat, his dark eyes icy. Sierra glared down at her plate of food.

I swear to God all of the other heirs had the personalities of a brick wall.

Bryan Campbell, Kimberly's brother, tapped his fingers on the tap. "Who's the friend, Ana, a new recruit?" He asked calmly, staring at his scotch glass.

Finn tensed beside me and I casually laid a hand on his thigh, stopping him from bolting out of the room. One thing I knew while dealing with these people, never to show fear or weakness, it only encourages them to strike.

"Why? Are you jealous?" I asked with a pout that turned into a smirk.

Bryan rolled his eyes. "Just wondering what happened to Corinne? Three years away and suddenly that's not happening anymore," he added, a sly smile on his face, "Was that the reason you left?"

My fork paused midair. I could feel my nostrils flaring as I sat still in my seat. My hand fell from Finn's leg and clenched beneath the table. Everyone knew about Corinne and I's previous situation, we never kept it a secret but I wasn't a person who enjoyed discussing their relationships.

I dropped the knife on my plate, letting the sound gain the attention of the room. A heavy, disappointed sigh left my lips as I rested my chin in my hand. "Bryan, have you become so useless that you have to resort to gossip? It's rather sad to see how far one can fall," I said condescendingly.

His eyebrow twitched and I reigned in my grin. Bingo. "Surprised someone is finally standing up to you, Love?"

I leaned back in my chair, exuberating utter leisure. "I'm just surprised you have the audacity to be a fucking idiot in my presence." Elijah sputtered out a laugh.

A chair scraped across the floor loudly and Kimberly stood from her seat. "I cannot deal with this pissing contest," she said in a bored tone before zeroing her gaze on her brother, "you're a puppy poking a fucking dragon, moron."

I threw my head back and laughed loudly, exaggerating my actions.

Lawrence stood swiftly from his seat. "Clearly we cannot finish this dinner peacefully after tonight's revelations, dinner is over," he announced, his forehead wrinkled. He seemed distracted as if he hadn't seen what happened at his own table.

He was too busy focusing on his security detail, pulling further away from his equals that looked just as concerned for themselves. Everyone was quick to stand up.

Something clicked in the back of my mind.

They're spooked.

They just saw one of their own betray another. That's why they were distracted, they were watching each other's movements closely.

Shan Xiao had just proven that alliances are just words and bullshit promises. Anyone can betray anyone.

My men gathered around me, Santiago quickly detaching himself from Sierra's slick fingers. Finn's hand rested on my lower back as he carefully watched everyone make their way to the front doors.

Kimberly made her way over to us. She placed both hands on my shoulders. "We're going out."

I stared at her. "No."

"Yes, we are, you need to get drunk," she argued.

"I can get drunk at home," I pointed out, rolling my eyes.

She threw her head back and sighed to the ceiling. "Where's the fun in that? Come on, I just opened up Elysium a few months ago, come check it out," she swayed with a knowing smile on her face.

One glance to my left showed an unwilling Jasper and next to him stood an energetic Elijah who nodded his head so fast he'll definitely have a headache later on in the night and Finn just stood there quietly, showing no opinion in his expression.

I looked back to Kimberly. "VIP area or I burn the building down," I stated my terms.

A small smirk pulled at the corners of her lips. "Fair enough, we'll go to my apartment first and have different outfits brought up from Fifth Avenue."

Kimberly linked her arm with mine, called her security to follow after mine and we left without a word to her parents or anyone else.

|| ✨ ||

An hour and a half later, Kimberly and I entered through the back door of her nightclub, Elysium. I refused to walk through the front no matter how much joy I would have experienced walking past the people standing outside in the cold waiting for a shot to get in.

The stairwell was quiet, only a minor vibration coming through walls. Harvey stood behind me and one of Kimberly's men stood next to Harvey.

My brothers and the rest of my men were already here, scoping out the place since I kicked them out of Kimberly's apartment over an hour ago when they wouldn't stop complaining about how long it took us to get ready.

We made our way up the stairs, careful not to flash Harvey and the other one. I ran a hand over the black sequins material hugging my hips that I instantly fell in love with when her stylists brought in the rack of options to choose from.

Thoughts on a certain person's reaction ran through my mind, bringing a little smile to my face.

"Thank you, for the dress," I said, tugging on the hem after each step.

She waved a hand dismissively, completely unaffected that her dress gave me a full view of her bare ass. Great. "I couldn't have you walking into my club looking like something out of a horror movie," she replied with a chuckle.

"You can throw that dress out, it's obviously lost its value," I muttered, debating whether or not I should start shopping at cheap clothing stores from now with the number of outfits I've ruined in the last three months alone.

Kimberly sent me a wink over her shoulder. "It's being burned to ashes as we speak."

A bounce at the top of the stairs nodded to Kimberly and opened the door, leading us into a short darkened hallway. A couple made out against the wall and the bouncer chased them away so we could walk by.

The end of the hallway opened up to the main dancefloor of the nightclub. The place was massive, there were no other words to describe it. Partiers packed the dancefloor, the strobe lights bouncing off of the sweaty bodies mashed together.

On a platform by the wall stood a giant stage where a DJ worked his magic to get people excited. A few short steps up led to another floor where the bar sat. From where I stood, I couldn't actually see the bar since people surrounded it. Black leather booths filled out the one side of the bar area, giving partiers a chance to catch their breath.

To the right of the bar a large black velvet rope, and two more bouncers, blocked off a set of stairs. Lifting my gaze higher, I noticed the overhanging balcony of the VIP lounge. Jasper leaned against the railing, typing on his phone with a bored look on his face. I couldn't see further into the VIP section because white drapes blocked the view from below.

The bouncers parted the crowd for us to walk through. I kept my face blank but on the inside, I had a smug smile on my face.

A small crowd of women stood at the base of the steps, behind the velvet rope, begging and pleading with the bouncers to let them up. I caught more than a few of them ogling Jasper. Kimberly smiled at the bouncers and they immediately pulled back the velvet rope, letting us through.

Once at the top, we walked through a set of white drapes and into the much quieter VIP section. A few other guests were up here, keeping to themselves while our men were making themselves comfortable on the white couches settled near the balcony.

A purple glow set the energy of the area, keeping the room dim and secluded from the chaos downstairs.

Elijah, Finn, and Franco sat together, drinking beer and laughing about something. One person I couldn't find was Santiago but I didn't have to ask to know he was probably fingers deep in a woman downstairs.

Kimberly squealed next to me and hobbled over to a man in a business suit surrounded by different people. She threw herself into his arms, their mouth clashing roughly. I wonder if her family knew about this gentleman.

Her squeal alerted everyone else in the room to our presence. Franco let out a wolf-whistle. I gave them a twirl, slowing down to show off my bareback before running a hand through my tight natural curls.

Finn immediately stood up and stalked towards me with a blank expression. A slow feeling of doubt rippled through my chest expecting a bigger reaction from him. I waited there like an insecure teenager.

He held out a hand toward me and I slid mine into his hold. With one arm movement, he twirled me, his eyes tracing up and down my body. When I faced him again he tugged me closer, resting a hand on the bare skin of my back. His head rested against mine, his lips brushing my ear. "That one was just for me," he murmured, his breath tickling my ear.

Fuck that's hot.

Refusing to melt at the little act, I smirked up at him. "Someone's a little selfish," I whispered, a teasing grin on my red lips as I placed a hand on his chest. He opted to remove the black suit jacket that left him in a long-sleeve buttoned-down which he rolled up to his elbows.

His blue eyes brightened even under the dim lighting as his cold fingers gently caressed my back.

He didn't say anything else. He didn't have to say anything else. In all honesty, he could just keep looking at me like that for the rest of my life and I wouldn't mind one bit.

Finn led me to the couch and without his help sitting down, I would have fallen right into Elijah's lap, a kind of trauma I didn't feel like experiencing.

Jasper walked through the curtains leading to the balcony and sat down by himself at one of the couches, glancing at his phone screen every time it lit up. Franco and Elijah both stood up simultaneously, fixed their hair and shirts, and grabbed their beers. "Okay, we're going downstairs, there's too many dicks up here," Franco announced with a mischievous grin.

My head shook in disappointment but I waved them off, watching them practically sprint to the stairs where they would be showered with affection by those women waiting at the bottom.

A gentle touch brushed against the back of my hand. "How's your thumb?" Finn asked, positioning his body in a way that angled towards me.

I placed my hand flat on his thigh and flexed it, showing him my thumb. "A bit of an ache but nothing I can't handle," I said, making eye contact with him. I swear the air left my lungs at that moment and my fingers instinctively gripped his thigh.

He leaned further into the couch and laid his arm across the back where I sat but didn't touch me. "I'll take care of it when we get home." Home. He said home. With a rush of confidence I didn't usually need to summon, I subtly leaned my body until his arm brushed my bare back.

Finn didn't say anything but his lips did twitch upwards when he tried to keep his cool. I stifled a laugh. Was it warm in here?

Suddenly a bartender appeared with a tray holding four clear shot glasses. Kimberly raised her glass in my direction when I caught her knowing gaze over the bartender's shoulder. She winked.

Finn held one out to me and rather than remove my hand from his thigh, I used my other arm. Our glasses touched as we stared at each other. "To an unforgettable night," he mused, clinking the shot glasses before we both downed them in one gulp, feeling the warmth spread through my chest. Oh, I'm planning on it.

I picked up my second one. "Cheers." After placing the glasses back on the small tray, I happily leaned back into his touch. His fingers traced the few ridges on my back from old scars.

"So," he began running a hand through his hair, causing it to stand up in random spots, "that whole thing with Shan was planned?" He asked rhetorically, "You told me to stay with your brothers, and then Elijah made a commotion."

I nodded with an impressed smile. "Look at you catching on." He rolled his eyes playfully. "I caught wind of a possible assassination attempt and decided to prepare myself accordingly."

For the first time since we sat down, he looked away from me. "You could've told me, I wouldn't have said a word." His tone was hard as if he were offended.

I gave him a wry smile, squeezing his thigh to get him to look back at me. I didn't realize how badly I needed him to look back. "I know," I said simply, "but I'm not used to involving people other than my family in my business. Besides, you're not exactly supportive of my lifestyle." I moved closer to him and nudged his shoulder teasingly.

"He needs to get laid!" Kimberly shouted in my ear from behind me and I nearly jumped out of my seat.

Finn's eyes widened and a dark cloud formed overhead when I turned to glare at her for ruining my conversation.

But Kimberly wasn't paying attention to us, her gaze solely lay on Jasper, still sitting by himself, scrolling through his phone. Oh.

She turned and waved a hand to a bouncer, gesturing him to come to her. She spoke quickly and seconds later he disappeared. Less than a minute went by when a young woman bounded up the stairs and went straight to where Jasper sat.

My head whipped to Kimberly's in alarm. She waved a hand. "Don't worry, she's not a prostitute, she's just been eye-fucking him the whole time he was on the balcony," she reassured before going back to her date. A silent breath of relief left my lips.

I peeked in Jasper's direction and watched the young woman trying to gain his attention. I didn't know whether to laugh or feel pity for her failed attempts. He only brushed her off with a death glare.

While Kimberly's efforts were commendable in wanting her guests to have a good time, Jasper didn't the definition of having fun.

After another minute of this woman torturing my brother, I called out to her. "Hey! Leave, go find someone else, he doesn't want you," I ordered with a glare in her direction. She gave me an ugly sneer and I stood up in a flash. "You did not just look at me like that you little fucking bitch-"

Finn grabbed my waist and twisted me to face him but while my body was flush against him, I stared at the woman. My lip curled in disgust. Jasper's eyes switched between me and the woman, a bored expression on his face.

"Ana," Finn whispered, grabbing my cheeks and physically shifting my head to face him. "Let's go dance," he suggested with an amused smile on his face.

I grabbed his hands and tried to remove them. "How about I meet you down there after I deal with this bitch who clearly wants to lose an eyeball tonight," I hissed in her direction.

"Ana," Finn said in a harder voice, abruptly getting my attention, "We're going to dance." I raised an eyebrow. "Now."

Holy fuck. My toes curled in my heels and every thought suddenly seemed irrelevant. My whole body warmed up and the only thing to keep me cool were his hands on my flushed cheeks. "Okay," I said calmly, "Let's go dance."

|| ✨ ||

Until next time,

Sammipott xx