"You ready, Printcessa?" he looked over and asked.
I nodded at him. "Good."
Enzo kicked the door in and we were exposed to twelve men wearing black clothes with guns on standby. He looked over at me and smirked, "Two grand if I can take out more of them than you."
A grin crept up on my face, "Let's make it five."
"Deal."
I dove into the room dodging bullets by ducking behind a table. Once the men started to reload, I took the opportunity and jumped up from over the table and kicked the gun out of one mans hands. He lunged at me but I ducked and punched him in the jaw then slammed his face into my knee.
I grabbed his gun and shot three of them in the head, then the gun jammed as two more goons started to shot at me. I flipped backwards landing on my feet behind the crappy couch just missing a few bullets by an inch.
I threw a pillow up in the air and they instantly shot at it as I rolled out from the side and flipped over their heads landing on one of their calf's hearing the sound of his bone crack. The men next to him both started to shoot at me until I launched myself back into the air and kicked the guns out of their hands.
One of them grabbed me by my foot and slammed me to the ground. I quickly rolled to the side before he could stomp on my face and kicked him in the crotch as he then fell to the floor. I flipped myself back onto my feet, but before I could attack, Enzo had already started to trade punches with him.
He was a quick son of a bitch, I'd give him that. He blocked every single punch the guy threw at him. Then grabbed him by his arm and launched him over his shoulder crushing a wooden chair.
"That one was mine Enzo," I crossed my arms across my chest.
He shrugged his shoulders, "You snooze, you lose, yes?"
I rolled my eyes. As he walked towards me, putting his guns back into their holsters, "You know, we never discussed the terms of a tie. You took out six, I took out six. What should happen now?"
I took a look into his gorgeous grey eyes, his hair was messy and his stubble was light. His muscles were hugged by a black turtle neck and tattoos that poked out around his forearms.
I leaned in closer to him, "I think we can come up with a solution where everyone is happy."
He smirked and moved closer to my face pressing his lips against mine. I easily melted into his lips and let my hand travel grabbing his gun allowing me to swiftly shoot all nine men that were still alive in the head.
"Well I took out all twelve of them, babe," I said with a smirk, "I think you should be a little quicker, Smirnov."
He chuckled, "All good things happens nice and slow Printcessa."
"Not everything," I whispered inches away from his face. His eyes focused in on my lips and he leaned in and I dodged him walking past him and towards the door. I turned around and faced him, "See, quicker."
He grinned at me and followed me back to the car as we drove back to the runway where are private jet was. Lorenzo and I had been on a mission for my grandfather to terminate a few men caught stealing from the dock shipments.
Once we got there, Enzo stopped the engine and turned his attention towards me. I looked at him studying him. He slid his hand past the side of my face, grabbing my neck, and smashed his lips onto mine.
I placed my hands on his shoulders as he took off his jacket, not breaking our kiss. He placed his hands on my waist picking me up and placing me on his lap, as we quickly returned our lips to one another.
The windows of the car began to fog up as we had sex-the first of many times...
______
Aleks
I was curled up in a blanket on the couch watching The Godfather, with Aiya sitting across from me with her nose in a biology textbook. I was supposed to be helping her study before we had to get our dresses for the charity gala tonight, but I got distracted.
After Aiya helped me get Nikolai off my back four months ago, our relationship took a turn for the better.
"Are you taking anybody to the ball?" I asked with an eyebrow raised.
"Yeah, Matias is taking me," she paused, "Are you?"
"Um," I tucked some hair behind my ear, "I was planning on going solo."
She rolled her eyes at me.
"What?" I asked.
"It's none of my business," she shrugged picking her book back up.
"No, tell me."
"Only if you promise to not get upset," she said.
"I promise I won't get upset," I said.
"Well Aleks," she sighed, "You have a bad habit of pushing people away. Especially Lorenzo, who has been by your side for-I don't even know how long-I just think he deserves better than your half-assed excuses."
I paused for a moment, "You're right, Aiya. I do push him away," I took a deep breath, "We all know the epic love story of Dmitri Petrov and Adalia De León, but we tend to overlook what their love created. It created Guillermo. If our mother hadn't loved another she wouldn't be in a coma right now. Dad wouldn't be in physical therapy right now. I wouldn't have all this emotion trauma," my eyes welled up, "I love them, I do, but because of them I'm scared of dragging Enzo into my life."
She reached for my hand and squeezed it, smiling at me, "I understand, Aleks. But, you're the strongest person I know. After all the shit we've been through as a family, no one had it as bad as you, and you still got through all of it. Mom and Dad have a powerful, yet dangerous love, but nonetheless it's theirs and they chose it because it was so strong. Dad visits Mom every single day, sneaking out of his bedroom," she laughed, "It just proves that, no matter the aftermath, he doesn't regret loving her. If Dad can almost lose his life and still disregard the consequences, I think you can tell Lorenzo what he really is to you."
"You do have that degree in psychology, don't you?" I grinned at her.
She laughed and shrugged her shoulders, "I don't have to be a psychologist to know how to prove you wrong."
I laughed, "Your words definitely aren't falling on deaf ears, sister. I'll think about it," I started to get up, "We should start heading over to Rebel's so she can dress us up."
She nodded and got up following me upstairs. Once I got to my bathroom I started to take off my clothes and tying my hair up with a clip, giving the water a chance to warm up.
My mind started to drift off to Enzo. These last four months, if he wasn't on a mission he was with me, his version of protecting me, I thought to myself, smiling softly.
I stepped into my shower and let the hot water soothe my nerves. After 20 minutes, I wrapped myself in my towel and walked my way over to my walk in closet.
I grabbed a bra and some underwear and slipped them on, then I put on some black jeans. I made my way over to my dresser and grabbed a cropped long sleeve quarter zip and put in on. After zipping up my black Gucci thigh high boots, I went and found Aiya who was already in the the car waiting for me.
Once we got to Rebel's place she began going to work on us. She began with my hair, grabbing a curling iron she started to curl the ends. After she was done curling all of my strands, she started to pin my hair to a back bun leaving curly stands out. She moved onto my makeup, which was always light.
The second she was done, she turned my chair around allowed me to see the finished look. My eyelashes were long and painted with mascara which was complimented by eyeliner. My high cheekbones were joined with highlighter and my lips complimented with red lipstick.
"There," she smiled at me, "All done. Now go get dressed, honey."
I smiled and hugged her, quickly thanking her and then I made my way to the room she pointed me towards. I shut the door then zipped opened the garment bag and gasped as the sight of the dress she gave me.
It was a sheer long sleeve dress with intricate gold accents sewn all over the dress. It was gorgeous and I immediately recognized the it as the work of Alexander McQueen.
I took off my clothes careful not to mess up my hair or makeup and slipped into the dress. It was tight around my curves and had a deep v-shaped cut on my chest. I slipped on some matching Christian Vuitton heels and once I got a quick look at myself in the mirror, I grabbed a white fur coat and slipped it on.
After leaving the room I found Aiya, who was looking for me. She was wearing a long lilac dress and her hair was straightened and parted to the side.
"You look gorgeous," I smiled at her, "Ready to go?"
"You too, and yeah I'm ready to see Nikolai and get his thanks for planning this night," she rolled her eyes.
I laughed, "Where's Matias?"
"He's waiting downstairs with a car for me," she raised an eyebrow, "Please tell me you're not driving yourself."
"My car is already here," I said shrugging my shoulders.
She shook her head as we began to walk outside, "You are so stubborn."
Once we got outside, Matias was there waiting for her. Matias was tall with black hair that was always slicked back and brown eyes. He belongs to one of the Spanish families that still oppose Guillermo and his forceful take over of the Spanish mafia. He gently kissed her cheek and took her hand as she got into his car. They were cute together.
After we exchanged goodbyes, they drove off in their car as I began to walk over to my own car, only to find Enzo leaning against it. He was wearing an all white tuxedo with a black button down underneath. His hair was slicked back and his arms were crossed as he smirked at me walking over to him.
"Need a ride, Printcessa?"
I smiled at him, "How did you know I'd be here?"
"I don't know," he shrugged his shoulders, "It's as if my senses always warn me, that my Printcessa needs me, you'd call that magic, yes?"
I laughed, as he opened the door for me, "I happy you're here, Lorenzo. However it is you came."
He smiled at me as I got in the car, "I'll always come, Aleksandra. No matter what." He shut the door and once he got in the car he drove us to the charity gala.
We walked in together as I scanned the room recognizing almost everyone. A lot of rich people in the room.
"You ready to be a Printcessa?"
I turned to him and sighed, "It's certainly much more fun being the Black Rose, but what is a printcessa without her-
"Duties," he finished.
"Precisely," I said, "I should probably talk to Nikolai first," I turned to him, "Can you entertain yourself for a little while?"
He smirked at me and placed a light kiss on my hand, "I'll be back, soon."
He took off as I scanned the room for Nik, our entire family was here, and he was in the farthest corner of the room with Brandi on his arm.
I quickly made my way towards them, they were talking to Brandi's parents and Akira and Ichiro Hamada.
"Hello," I turned to the Hamada's and greeted them along with the Carter's.
"Aleksandra, it's wonderful to see you again," Akira said.
"Likewise," I smiled, "Tell Rei I said hi, I couldn't help but notice she wasn't with you tonight."
"Rei couldn't get a flight back," Ichiro said.
"That's too bad," I smiled, "But if you would all excuse both, me and my brother, we have some things we need to discuss."
Nik raised his eyebrows at me as they quickly nodded and began to mingle amongst themselves. I grabbed him and pulled him to the side.
"You're late Aleks," he said sipping on his champagne, "I expected you here a half an hour ago."
"Glad you could hold down the fort in my absence, brother," I scoffed.
"Don't joke Aleksandra," he said seriously, "Politics is just as important as killing people."
"Don't lecture me, Nikolai. Everyone is much more invested in your marriage arrangement to my best friend, than the Russian Printcessa being fashionably late," I grinned at him.
"I swear I wanted to tell you-
"Nothing to tell," I smiled, "Just as long I get to be the godmother of the first heir she pops out," I said grabbing his fluke of champagne and finishing it.
"Deal," he smirked at me, "Now please go fulfill your duties and engage in small talk."
"As soon as I find Lorenzo, I'll be sure to talk to everyone, I promise."
"Oh and about that-end it."
I almost dropped the empty glass as my eyes widened, "What are talking about?"
"I'm talking about the future of this family," he said sternly, "You are Aleksandra Katya Svetlana Petrov and you will be married soon."
"What?" I asked through gritted teeth.
"Look Aleks, if there was any other way, I promise I'd make it happen. But the power needs to shift to you once we take out Guillermo. You will have to take over the Spanish mafia. There's no once else but you."
"Since when was this the plan!?"
"This was always the plan, sister. Guillermo killed all the male De León heirs. Brianna and Fiona are already married to Irish men. Valeria is underage and Aiya has no strong connections. You are the last of the De León women to be able to take power, and you'll ensure you're power by marrying a Spanish man with strong ties to the mafia," he said almost matter-of-factly.
I took a deep breath, I should've thought of the possibility that I'd get dragged into an arranged marriage, but I had never anticipated that I'd be the next successor to the Spanish fucking mafia.
"Who?" I asked softly.
He sighed, "Ismael Luciano Santos."
I furrowed my eyebrows, "He's the son of Alejandro Santos?"
He nodded, "He's already proven himself worthy, Aleks. Ismael is the only reason, Guillermo doesn't have full support of all the Spanish families."
I nodded my head and started to walk away, but Nikolai grabbed my wrist, "You need to end it tonight, Aleks. I don't want there to be any question of the legitimacy of your future children."
I quickly to turned to face him a stricken look on my face, "I understand, boss."
His face softened and he looked as if he was about to say something else but I had already started to walk away. An arranged fucking marriage. Literally the only woman in this generation of my family to have to go through this miserable shit.
Then something hit me, this wasn't even about me. I sighed, this was about the future of the Spanish mafia. My mother was supposed to take over but married my father. After Guillermo murdered her cousins, I'm the only one left in the line of succession. A Printcessa has her duties, especially a Russian one.
"You okay, Aleks?"
I looked up and my eyes met Enzo's and my face instantly softened. How do I tell him this? How do I make him let me go?
I sighed and guided him to the lobby of the hotel, which was empty.
"We need to talk."
"Woah, why so serious?" he smiled at me.
"Lorenzo, please," I felt my eyes well up with tears.
He wrapped his arms around me and pulled me to his chest, as I felt guilt wash over me.
"I'm getting married," I said softly.
He instantly pulled away and looked me in the eyes.
"His name is Ismael Luciano Santos and I'm promised to him," I almost whispered.
His eyes widened, "When?"
"I'm not sure," I said looking at the ground, "Sometime after I kill Guillermo, I suppose. I was named the only acceptable heir to the Spanish mafia after he's dead," I sighed, "I'm a De León, but I'm also a Petrov. I'd need to marry a Spanish man to strengthen my claim."
"I see," he said softly.
"Lorenzo, I-
"Don't Aleks," he cut me off and lifted my chin so I'd look him in the eyes, "Tell me you love me."
My heart swelled and my the tears in my eyes began to stream down my face, but I said nothing.
"That's all I needed to know," he said letting me go and walking away.
"Enzo, please," I turned around to follow him.
"I love you, Aleksandra," he said facing me, "I've loved you from the moment I met you and I know you love me but you won't even say it."
"It's not that simple," I said, my cheeks now stained with tears, "I'm a De León, I have responsibilities. I can't do whatever I want."
"A Printcessa has her duties," he said, then walked away back to the gala, leaving me there.
My heart dropped into my stomach and my eyes blurred with tears. This was it, I thought, I've lost him.
Everything in my body began to ache, but I still couldn't get control of the tears streaming down my face, so I went outside to calm down.
I must've looked crazy standing there crying as people walked by me in the street, but I didn't care-I couldn't care.
I had just lost the only man I'd ever been in love with. The only man I could ever truly love. He understood my pain better than anyone and all managed to do was drown him in it. I needed to find him...
I wiped my tears and looked up as I had only just noticed a cop car across from me. I looked around and saw Detective Ryan Vega standing in front of me with a smirk on his face that made me uneasy.
"Party not going so well, Petrov?" he asked smugly, "Well your night is about to get a hell of a lot worse."
"What do you want?"
He pulled out his handcuffs and walked behind me, "Aleksandra Petrov you are under arrest for the assault of Raisa Anatoli."
My eyes widened as he read me my rights, that stupid bitch. I couldn't do anything right now, hitting a cop would easily land me in jail for sure and Ryan Vega had been making a case around me and my family for years but couldn't make anything stick, but this-this was going to stick.
He roughly pushed me toward his car, "I know exactly how skilled you are in martial arts, so don't try anything," he started, "But just in case," he slammed my head on the roof of the car before shoving me into the backseat.
I instantly felt the blood dripping from my forehead as he and his partner moved into the front seat of the car, "Let's go for a little ride, Aleks. I finally got you."
- - End Of Chapter - -