A year and a half ago~

"Papa, I'm gonna be staying at Justin's place tonight, and go to school directly from there. I'll be home tomorrow for dinner."

"Why? Why do you keep going to that Justin? I told you to go with Andre! He's a better person. At least go on a date with him, I promise you'll fall in love with him."

"Dad I already told you I love Justin and I hate Andre. Now, we will have this discussion, again, when mama comes home. I love you and mama too! Bye!"

"Bye Principessa, Love you too. And, stay safe!" (Princess)

Releasing a hefty sigh, She slammed the door behind her. By now, She had gotten tired of hearing her father brag about one of his friends' son- Andre. She never understood the big deal- yea she'd seen the large duffel bag with crisp bills, but surely that money wasn't for me. She'd convinced herself that her father was a good man, but somewhere, in the depths of my mind- she'd always doubted him. She soon reached my secret garage, just around the block, and reveled in the glory of her babies. she loved to race, and this is where she stored her jewels- a Bugatti La Voiture Noire and a Ducati Panigale V4- she sure had plans for buying more.

Revving the engine, she swiftly rode her bike through the familiar roads and halted by Justin's house. Half a minute passed by and Justin was already on her bike, fastening his helmet and she pressed back into him.

"Hold on tight babe- there's this new restaurant by the shore." She giggled mischievously and sped towards the coast.

"Easy there, we wanna reach in one piece right?" Called out Justin's soothing voice, compelling her to slow down to just under the speed limit.

They reached the restaurants and ordered a kebab platter. 'How is Turkish delicacy the best dish in an Italian restaurant?'- she thought to herself.

"Wanna hit up the club?" She smirked- the actual reason she came to this place.

"We're underage Alex."

"I'm sorry, I think you have the wrong person. I'm Alessa DeLuca, nice to meet you Austin." She held her smirk while pulling out the fake ids she'd gotten them.

"So that was your agenda for this little outing today? Not that I mind it, but we won't even be let in, Alex." Emphasis on her actual name.

"I was anyways planning to go, you can just join me if you'd want."

"I'm not gonna let you go alone!"

"Then I might just go with Aubrey- your twin." She smiled as she pulled out her phone to call Jessica.

"There's no talking you out of this, is there?" Justin sighed. "Fine let's go. But no drinking and lets stay together all the time."

She giggled as they walked across the road, making silly jokes and slightly pushing each other in a child like manner. To the outside eye, they seemed like a normal teenage couple, up to their usual mischief, going to a club on a school night. But to Alex, she knew her life was going to change after tonight. For some reason, she had a gut feeling about it. And for an even more peculiar reason, she was excited.

It was pretty simple. A bar and a dance floor. Nothing much but it screamed expensively. The décor, the people, the lights- everything was extravagant and the two teenagers felt extremely out of place. They sat at the bar and ordered a coke. Of course, she faked being pregnant as to why she wasn't drinking and her boyfriend was just being supportive to avoid suspicion. After some time, he went to look for the restroom.

"Look who we have here. Does daddy know his princess is at a club?" Came the most annoying noise that Alex knew.

"Stalking much?"

"Nah. I just came here to have a drink but I met a pretty lady. Might take her home"

"No. And I won't even be sorry. And as you know, I have a boyfriend"

"Let's run away. Ditch him" He said moving a bit closer.

"Back off Andre. I have made it pretty clear that I don't want anything to with you" She stated firmly and turned to walk away but he had other plans. Grabbing her wrist harshly and without thinking, so she turned and punched him square in the jaw.

Completely taken aback. He was surprised and she convinced herself that she did it for self-defense. She did not want to hurt him.

"That all you got, princess?" And those few words flared up her anger. She cautiously took a step back, and then charged at him with a roundhouse kick. Her eyes closed to not witness his face.

The glass of the bar table crashed as his head was smashed into it. He was knocked out cold. His head bleeding from one corner. She gasped as soon as she opened her eyes, not expecting to have hurt him so bad. Taking out a piece of paper, she wrote- 'I'm sorry for hitting so hard- but I won't tell my father if you don't!' and tucked it into his pocket, running away from the scene to go look for her boyfriend, ready to leave.

Not looking where she's going, she bumped into a handsomely strange man who looked to be in his mid-forties. There was something familiar about him, she thought.

"You destroyed the bar" He said with a thick Italian accent. He was hot, no denying that, and his muscles bulged through his shirt as he moved to cross his arms across his chest,

"That's what you saw? You didn't see the man harassing me but just saw me knocking him out. Geez- Thanks for the help, even if I didn't need it." She replied, annoyed.

"You were great"

"Thanks?"

"Where did you learn to fight?"

"Why should I tell you?"

"You interested in fighting?"

"For what?"

"Money"

"Nope"

"What's your name?"

"Alessa DeLuca"

"Boss would love you"

"Well, tell your boss to shove it up his ass. 'Cause I ain't gonna be fighting. I would gladly tell him to fuck off." And with that, she walked away, still looking for Justin.

Finding him seated at the bar, she immediately pulled him into a heated kiss. A surprised moan escaped Justin's lips and she smiled into him, finally letting him go.

"What was that for?" He smirked.

"No reason, was thinking we could get out of here and go back to your place?"

They walked out of the club, hand in hand, and towards his car when four bouncer type guys suddenly surrounded them.

"Now what do you guys want?" She huffed.

"You knocked down our boss, and broke the bar." One of them said gruffly.

"You broke a bar?" Justin questioned.

"I knocked out Andre and his head crashed on the glass- he broke it. I was going to tell you about it, in the car, but now these dumdums are here." She shrugged and looked back at the strange men.

"Andre is no boss. He's just a dick. A coward. Who keeps coming onto me no matter how many times I say no! Now what do you guys want?"

"You knocked down our boss"

"Yeah I know"

"You must die"

"Yeah. Wait-What?!"

The first guy walked forward. Almost as if it wan on instinct, she tackled him with a roundhouse kick and he fell to the ground. The other three remained unfazed.

"Justin, I need you to get the car around- to the front of the diner." She said softly and within a moment, he was gone and the next two guys came forward.

They threw punch after punch but somehow she managed to dodge most of them. Getting the two to face each other, she banged their heads and watched them fall to the ground. "Buffoons," she muttered.

"Now you, you could easily walk away. There's no need to kill me- trust me your boss wants me alive." She tried to reason with the last man.

"Okay then," was all he said before throwing himself at her. One punch at her stomach and she backed off gasping for breath. He pulled out a gun.

Trying not to let the fear show, she tried to kick it out of his hands but he was quick to catch her ankle and fling her down, standing over her with the gun still pointed.

"Please don't kill me- Andre will definitely want me alive." She shut her eyes, not wanting to look at the gun and plead.

"You're right, he'll want you alive. So I'm just gonna-" BANG!

The sound of a body falling down made her open her eyes. She found herself staring right at the man from before- the one who had asked her to fight. He had shot her attacker and was extending out his hand for her. She gladly did.

"Thank you"

"Anytime Alessa"

"I need to get going." She said in a rush, wanting to escape to her boyfriends arms.

"Wait" He held out a card for some fight club. "We may change a few rules of fighting if you join us Alessa." Taking the card, and not wanting to seem rude, she gave him a slight nod and walked off.

As soon as she entered the car, she was pulled into a hug, only to hug him back tighter. "Never again." She whispered.

"Let's just go home and sleep it off babe." And that's exactly what he did.

But Alex remained wide awake. Confused and somewhat dreading what was to come next. She had doubts that her father was in some sort of a gang- and she realized this could be the only way to find out. So she did. She got out of bed and drove her bike, back to the same club and walked in. Apparently they had an underground area as well. More signs of a gang being involved.

It was filled with men in suits, all smoking cigars and speaking as loud as possible. An extravagant stage on one side with multiple poles and aerial hanging things were displayed and several dancers were walking around, dressed- well not dressed at all. And alas, in the center, a boxing rink.

"Ah! So we meet again" He held out his hand and to be polite, she shook it.

"You have a firm handshake Alessa."

"I guess. But I came here. So get to the point?"

"Yes. So we are holding matches here from next week. Today are trials. Will you be okay with fighting men?"

"Yup. The stronger the opponent, the better the match and more proudness when you knock them out."

"Yup. So the first rule is, fight till one is dead"

"What?!" She could never agree to that!

"I'm changing it. It's fight till one taps out or is knocked out"

"That's good"

"Yeah. I did it for you. Please join. We really need someone like you in our fights"

"Alright. Let's try it out."

"You'll be fighting one of our guys,"

"Okay"

She was walked to one corner of the rink where she took off her top and started analyzing the area. In the opposite corner stood a guy of about 18 years old. 'Just two years older, shouldn't be too bad.' She thought. The match started and she was quick to knock him down. She walked out even faster and immediately went to the man.

"Well that was amazing"

"Thank you. Mr...?"

"Stefan"

"Cool name"

"Thanks."

"So...? How much do you pay?"

"Well, how much do you want?"

"I don't know. I have great plans for college and I want to start racing. So I need to buy cars for that and I can't live off my father's money all my life, no matter how much he insists, I'm not a daddy's girl."

"Good to know you don't plan on wasting it on drugs. But we will need to have a contract" He led her to a cabin and at the center table, sat a round of four men, dressed in suits.

"Hi. I'm Alessa DeLuca. I'm thinking of joining here" She announced confidently.

"Anyone who comes here has to join. Or they are killed for knowing this location. Show us what you got bambolina" One of the men said gesturing towards the pole that I hadn't noticed till now.

"Cocky much? I'm not gonna strip. I'm here to fight" She couldn't resist the urge to roll her eyes.

They looked at each other and started laughing hysterically. And didn't stop until Stefan had their attention. "Shut up!" He had commanded with a loud voice.

"What are you waiting for baby girl. Don't be shy. You've already removed your t-shirt" One of the men said walking towards her. And again, almost on instinct, she punched his face before he could touch her.

"As I said, I'm here to fight." She gave him a smirk. "Don't make me fight you"

He held his jaw and turned to the others.

"She's good."

"Yes, she is" Stefan cut in.

"I'm here to discuss some contract. I need money"

"Well, you have to fight when we call you. It can be any day, any time of the night."

"Well, if that's the case. I'm outta here"

"Your loss bambolina"

"No. It'll be our loss" Stefan pulled out his phone and he showed them the recorded match. Along with when I fought Andre and the other men. The room was silent for a while until one of them spoke up, reluctantly.

"What are your conditions?" He asked.

"I can fight on Wednesday, Thursday, and Saturday night. From 12 to 3 am. And the contract will only be for two years." She said, recalling that her father had night shifts on these days and most Saturdays she stayed over at Justin's.

"Well, we only have one condition. No one knows where this place is"

"I'm not an idiot. I won't tell anyone I fight, let alone the destination where I do it."

"What about the money?"

"Ummm... 400 Dollars for a fight. 500 if I win. And 700 if it's one of your strongest men and if I fight an extra match"

"That's it?"

"Hmm. No add 10,000 dollars if I fight on any other days"

They looked at her as if she had grown two heads.

"Just kidding idiots. The rates are 400, 500, and 700. And I won't even be coming here on the days other than I said so."

"It's a deal" She shook hands with all of the men and Stefan walked her out.

"Thank you, Stefan. I look forward to working with you." She smiled sincerely.

"You know. No one has ever spoken back to the men in that room. Not even to me. You're different. You're good" She nodded and started walking towards her bike.

"See you next Wednesday Stefan!"