Valerie's Mafia King

I swung the car door open and bolted out before it had fully stopped. The branches cracked beneath my shoes as I raced through the woods, the trees blurring past me.

My only thought was reaching her in time.

A growl escaped my lips as I spotted the men chasing her. Gripping the knife tightly, I knew shooting them would be too quick. I wanted them to suffer before they died.

Grabbing the closest one, I drove the knife into his throat, watching him struggle as he choked on his own blood.

Yet, it wasn't enough to quench my anger. I craved every drop of their blood.

Casting him aside, I moved to the next, extinguishing his life before moving to another. Swinging my knife wildly, I became drenched in their blood as I fought my way to her.

I stood frozen, dropping the last assailant from my sight. A shiver raced down my spine as her screams reverberated through the forest.

My heart seized.

I sprang into action, running faster than before, until I finally laid eyes on her.

"Daemon..." Her voice held relief at seeing me. I stopped in my tracks, horror washing over me as she winced, blood staining her.

"No..." I whispered.

Tears streaked down her face as she looked at me, broken.

I held her tightly, desperate to shield her somehow. But it was too late.

Once again, I was too late...

Valerie POV

I looked at myself in the mirror and nodded when I liked how I looked. I wore a long black dress made of smooth silk with long sleeves. It had a low neckline that showed some of my chest. The dress was tight at the top and looser from the hips down, with a long split on the right side that went up to my mid-thigh. I completed my outfit with black high-heeled shoes that had straps around the ankles. I did my makeup with a simple brown smokey eye to match my green contact lenses, which made my eyes look a bit like a cat's. I left my long, curly brown hair as it was, but I clipped some of it away from my face on the right side with a shiny hair clip.

I kept fidgeting with my hands, feeling nervous all over.

"I need to calm down. What's the worst that could happen?" I asked myself, trying to gather courage to leave my hotel room. The worst thing I could think of was my father getting angry and throwing me out when I showed up... My eyes widened, and my face went pale. I hadn't even considered that possibility until now. I quickly pushed that thought aside. I was there for Bella, not him, and nothing was going to stop me from going to her engagement party.

I have always been close to Bella as we grew up together in the same household since both of our fathers were running a business together. Long story short, I found out my father and Uncle were running a Mafia, and since they would always be busy, Bella spent time with me and my mother. Sadly, Bella's mother died during her birth, and my mother raised Bella as if she were her daughter. Aside from that, we were a happy family.

Or so I thought.

There was something you didn't notice as a kid because, well, you were busy being a kid, right? Carlos, my father, was always a busy man, but he did remember to spend time with me occasionally, not as often as I would have liked, but it was better than nothing. Then, as usual, Bella and I were nosy and tried to eavesdrop on my parents because it sounded like they were fighting. We had crept down the steps to get a closer look and listen to what was going on, but we couldn't hear anything. But what happened next shocked us both, and had our jaw dropping. My mother, Matilda, slapped the fuck out of my father that night. We remained still, stunned by what had just happened, before running back to our shared room and pretending to be asleep so we wouldn't be caught snooping.

The next day, my mother had our bags packed and we left. I remember crying so hard because Bella wasn't coming with us. My mother tried to take her with us, but Uncle refused to let her go. It pained my mother to leave Bella behind and I was sure she had her reasons to leave my father. However, the reason for that was still unknown.

My father and I didn't stay in touch after that even though I tried to call him because I missed him, but he never once called me back. He then changed his number, and I got the message.

We moved to Ireland, while my father stayed in California. I got to meet up with Bella whenever it was possible, but it did get more difficult for her to leave the house the older she got because her father became strict as hell. And became a parent from hell.

Uncle was always intoxicated with alcohol and drugs. A very dangerous mixture that made him insane and abused Bella. The minute I knew what was happening with her, I told her I was coming to get her out of there, but she begged me not to and said it would do more harm than good. I couldn't understand what she meant by it and my heart dropped when she said her father wouldn't hesitate to kill her if she tried to run away. I couldn't do anything but stay put as I feared for her life.

Well, to say that I was nervous to be around them all for the first time in forever, was an understatement. I didn't know what to expect and kept thinking about how my father would react to seeing me after so long.

"...Don't get sick," I whispered to myself and took a deep breath. I felt nauseous but I couldn't risk throwing up, especially now that I was all dressed up.

"Let's go." I sighed and finally made my way down to the lobby.

Bella made sure to send a car to my hotel to escort me to the mansion. My old home. My heart started to beat a little faster at the thought of being there after so long. My father got himself a new wife not long after we left, and even has a son. Not biologically as it was from his wife's previous marriage, but he treated him like his own. I'd be lying if I said it didn't bother the shit out of me because he treated someone else more like his own than me.

Bella instantly spilled the tea and said my father had downgraded. She said I would see what she meant when I got there, and I was prepared to give the stink eye to whoever my father ended up marrying.

On the elevator ride down to the lobby, I felt myself getting more nervous and my hands fidgeted around the little gift box I had with me. It felt like my stomach was in a thousand knots, giving me a stomachache.

"Get it together, Valerie... It's just family." I breathed out, trying to calm my nerves.

The elevator doors opened once reaching the lobby, and I took a final deep breath, holding the small engagement gift in my hands. It wasn't anything grand, just two champagne glasses saying 'Mr. Right' with a mustache and the other 'Mrs. Always Right' with red kissy lips. It immediately made me think of Bella because she had the impression she was always right. Even in situations where she wasn't, she still was according to herself. She could be a little cocky sometimes.

Nearing the middle of the lobby, I stopped in my tracks when I spotted the tall dark-brown-haired man in a black suit that hugged his body to perfection.

(Our Dave Winslow)

"Dave?!" I said in shock. He turned around and smiled at me when he spotted me.

"Valerie! Long time no see!" He gave me a perfect smile, showing his perfectly white teeth. It has been so long since I last saw him. My first crush ever, damn, now I remembered why I was obsessed with him. Dave had the most beautiful eyes I have ever seen, a sharp jawline, and a clean-shaven face. His dark brown hair was styled to perfection, giving the 'I didn't bother to try' look, which just made him a hundred times sexier.

We dated when we were younger. He just didn't know, hehe.

I just stared at him, my mouth slightly open as I couldn't believe my own two eyes.

"Damn, Valerie, just take a damn picture if you're just going to stare at me like that." He chuckled, and I immediately felt heat coating my cheeks. He still had that effect on me.

"Don't flatter yourself too much, Ash. I was just surprised to see you here." I laughed, hoping he didn't notice my flushed cheeks.

"Yeah, well I kind of overheard Bella saying that you were coming, and she was going to send someone over to come and get you. I couldn't believe that Valerie was coming, so I said I would come and fetch ya." Dave smiled and tucked his hands into the pockets of his slacks. His eyes slowly scanned me, trailing down my body, and then up again to meet my eyes, giving me a lazy smirk in the process.

"Can't say I regret the decision. You look stunning as ever, Valerie." His eyes turned a shade darker, and my heart was beating just a little faster with the way he was looking at me.

"And you look handsome as ever, Dave." I returned with a smile as he slowly walked up to me with a sexy grin on his face.

This was definitely going to be a long night.

Valerie POV

The moment we stepped inside the mansion, I couldn't help but take in the surroundings. Right there in front of us was this stunning staircase made of light brown marble. It split into two smaller stairways at the top, each with sleek black handrails. Hanging above was an eye-catching crystal chandelier that, along with tiny lights dotted around the ceiling, gave off a really fancy vibe.

As we moved past the staircase towards the backyard, I was hit by a wave of memories. This house, despite its many changes, still felt familiar. It hadn't been my home for years, yet the time I spent here was unforgettable, largely because I had Bella with me back then.

The sound of music and people talking got louder as we approached the backyard entrance, still hidden from view. We took a stone path that curved around to the right side of the house. Looking around, I was amazed by the garden. There were flowers and plants in every color you could imagine on both sides of the path. It was clear the gardener had put a lot of work into this, making it feel like walking through a vibrant, colorful meadow.

I halted in my steps just before we rounded the corner to join the rest of the people.

"Just take a deep breath, Valerie You will be fine, I promise." I turned to look at Dave, and he gave me a reassuring smile while giving my hand a small squeeze. I tightened my hold around his hand a little, grateful that he was here to ease my nerves a bit.

"I know, it's just nervousness getting to me. It's been a long time since I've been here, and so many memories." I gave him a small smile in return. He pulled me a bit closer to him, which I welcomed because it calmed down my nerves which were increasingly building.

As soon as we rounded the corner, I let out a small gasp at the sight in front of me. I was stunned by how beautiful everything looked.

"Wow." I breathed out as took in the sight in front of me.

It was a big open space with massive trees surrounding the place. They have managed to wrap the trees around with light chains, lightning the whole place up, and string lights hanging from one tree to another, creating a form of a ceiling of light in the air. There were big round tables scattered around with fancy tablecloths, and vases with gold engravings, holding the white and soft pink Camellia flowers. If this was just the engagement party, I couldn't imagine how grand the wedding would be. And it definitely would be grand just by looking at the number of people present here.

"Yeah, I agree," Dave said as he also looked around the backyard.

"I'll just go and put this on the gift table. Can I get you something to drink?" He motioned his head to the far-right side where a bar has been set up with a bartender.

"Anything non-alcoholic would be great, thanks. I want to stay as sober as possible." It was not that I couldn't handle a few glasses of champagne, I just didn't want anything to mess up with my senses if anything went wrong. I am nervous as hell and do something crazy and I couldn't risk that.

"Sure! I will be right back." He said as he went his way to the gift table.

Shit, I was alone now. I should have gone with him but instead, I was now here, standing alone, and I didn't know what to do....Should I just go up and say 'hi, remember me?' kind of thing? Yeah, that sounded like an awful plan. I decided to look around to see if I could spot Bella somewhere in the mass of people. What I didn't notice was that half of the people were already staring at me while I was in my miserable bubble. I shifted my weight on my feet a little as I started to feel uncomfortable with all the attention on me.

I suddenly felt underdressed because what in the universe was this? It was like Italian Vogue magazine spat out all of its models into this backyard. I have never seen so many beautiful people gathered in one place. Women were dressed in long beautiful gowns, and men in suits that made them look like people who did not belong to this world, and that was freaking intimidating. The more I looked at who did not belong to this world, and that was freaking intimidating. The more I looked at them, the more intimidated I felt. It was easy to see I was kind of an outsider and didn't belong here.

I shifted around on my feet again, not knowing where to go. And how long did it take to grab a drink? I wouldn't mind being saved right now as I gave some awkward smiles to the people who looked at me. And where the heck was Bella? I kept looking around to see if I could spot her somewhere but there were too many people. While gazing around, someone caught my attention and my eyes landed on him.

[Our mafia Daemon ;)]

My breath halted at the sight of him as I checked him out. This man is gorgeous. Breathtaking actually.

He was wearing black dress pants, and a black dress shirt that was unbuttoned a bit from the top, exposing some of his chest. His sleeves were rolled up to his elbows and showed his perfect arm. This man was on the top styled into perfection. This man was the literal definition of perfection. My eyes scanned him, starting from the bottom, and slowly made their way up to his face. I got a bit startled, and I held my breath once again when we made eye contact. Normally, I would look away immediately, but there was just something about him that made me stare at him for a little longer. He was standing tall as he smoked and even from a distance, I could feel the power radiating off him.

He tilted his head slightly to the side as he, too, inspected me from head to toe. His face showed absolutely no form of expression as he kept me locked under his gaze. His eyes looked intently into mine, and it was like I was in some sort of trance because I couldn't seem to look away as we kept looking at each other from afar.

"Don't look at him like that." Dave suddenly stood in front of me, startling me, and blocked my view from the man.

"He has killed people for staring at him in a wrong way." He told me as he handed me my drink.

"Huh?" I breathed out and stared at him confused.

"I was just looking around. How am I supposed to find the person I'm looking for if I'm not allowed to look?" I chuckled a little at his exaggeration and raised my brow at him.

"The way you looked at him can get your ass shot." He looked at me with a serious expression, letting me know that this was not a joke. I looked at him with wide eyes, suddenly feeling scared that the man would shoot me because I did not take my time to look at him.

"Wait, really? Oh, duck shit... What should I do? Do I go and apologize?" I asked hurriedly. I didn't mean it in a mean way, he was truly too beautiful not to look at.

Dave let out a small snort.

"No, just don't look at him. I don't know if you have heard of this, Valerie, but you have a mean resting bitch face. You looked like you were ready to fight him or something." He muttered I choked on my drink when I accidentally laughed, making a fool out of myself. And in front of so many people.

"Hah!! I may have heard that a few times."

Valerie POV

"Valcat!" Bella's voice rang out, bursting with joy as she suddenly appeared and hurried towards me, her face lit up with a huge grin.

"Susu!" I called back, my excitement bubbling up as I quickly passed my drink to Dave, not minding that I spilled a bit of it, and hurried over to her in my heels. I threw my arms around her, pulling her into a tight hug. It had been ages since we last saw each other, which felt like forever because we were practically joined at the hip, like sisters who were never meant to be apart.

"Oh my goodness, I've missed you so much! It just hasn't been the same without you here." She squeezed me even tighter, making her petite frame seem even smaller.

"I know," I laughed, feeling the warmth of our reunion. "I've missed you tons!" I took a step back to see her, holding onto her hands. It was like I was seeing her for the first time in forever, taking in every detail.

"Susu, you look amazing, so so pretty!" I gaped at the beautiful gown she was wearing. It was a long, flowy, beautiful old rose-colored strapless gown with a corset-like top with silver patterns that hugged into her waist, strapless gown with a corset-like top with silver patterns which hugged into her waist, and made her already full breasts even bigger. Her pitch-black hair was in an updo with a few loose strands of hair around her face, and her makeup was done flawlessly, complimenting her hazel eyes.

She looked breathtaking

"Mom outdid herself with this dress. It's more than I could ever imagine." She winked mischievously, and I dropped my jaw at the new information.

"I didn't know you asked Mom to make you a dress!" I squinted my eyes at her. My mother was a designer and made drop-dead gorgeous gowns. When we moved, she opened her little shop, however, it blew up in no time, and eventually, we had to expand and now it was a well-known high-end boutique called Matilda.

Yup, she decided to use her name as the brand..

"Yeah, well, I didn't want you to know because I wanted it to be a surprise, and -" Bella put her hand to her chest and squeezed my hand with the other.

"I love you so much, but you fucking suck at keeping something like that a secret." She said while giving me an innocent smile.

I opened my mouth to say something but closed it again because she was right. I was the type of person who would get you a gift and within the next few minutes I would be all like 'Guess what I just got you.' I mean, she already knew what I got her for her engagement. I took a picture of the champagne glasses and sent her a text message that said 'OMG these are so cute! I'm getting them for you and sent her the picture.

"Fair enough," I muttered.

"But damn, look at you! That dress is so hot on you. Who are you getting your titties out for, huh?" Bella put her hands on her hips and wiggled her eyebrows at me. Typical of Bella, always having her mind in the gutter.

"No one." I rolled my eyes.

"Unlike you, my titties are covered up." I pointed out.

"True, but I have a man now that I need to impress so he knows what awaits him if you know what I mean." She winked, making me laugh in the process.

"Speaking of man..." I murmured while looking around to make sure no one was near hearing distance.

"Are you sure you want to do this, Bella? You can always, I don't know, run away? You know I'll come with you." I told her with a serious expression. If she wanted to run away to a different country, for her, I would drop everything and go with her. She was my only family besides my mother, and I would do anything to make sure she would be safe.

"You know I can't do that. He will hunt me down and kill me if I ever think about running away." She gave me a sad smile.

"Besides..." Bella continued.

"Anything will be better than living with him. I just have to get away. I need to breathe." She sighed. As much as I hated to admit it, it was true. Her father was an absolute maniac and abusive, to say the least. If she did something and he found it inappropriate, he would lay his hands on her. One time her father came back home from God knows where, intoxicated with both alcohol and cocaine and almost beat her to death if he didn't gain just a little bit of his senses back.

Hah, I hoped one day someone would give him the same treatment.

Amen.

"This is my way out of here." She promised.

"As long as you're happy, I'm happy." I gave a small smile and pulled her into another hug.

"Just remember, no matter what happens, Pitbull has been there and done that." Bella pulled away and looked me dead in the eyes with a blank expression.

"I swear, Valerie if you say that one more time, I will beat you up and make you eat your phone." I stuck my tongue out at her as I grinned. So, I may have used that phrase one too many times to lighten up the mood. (if you knew you know)

What can I say? Memes are life.

"Are you done catching up? I'm feeling all lonely here by myself." Dave wrapped an arm around my shoulder and pouted his lips.

"Isn't this awesome!? The trio has finally reunited at last." He said with excitement, and I just shook my head at him and removed his arm from my shoulders.

"I did not spend that much time getting ready for you to get my hair into a tangled mess".

"whatever "he muttered.

"Come, let me introduce you to my soon-to-be husband." She nodded in the direction of a large group of men standing, smoking cigars and drinking whatever their choice of poison was. But what caught me off guard was that they were already staring at us.

Nothing intimidating about that.

Nope, not at all =)

"Have fun with that," Dave muttered as he was already looking in the direction of the men with a blank impression.

"Are you not coming with us? Didn't you just say that you were lonely standing by yourself?" I gave him a teasing look.

"Yeah, but I'm not that lonely." He smiled down at me.

"See ya!" He said as he made his way in the opposite direction before either of us could get a word out..

"Let's go." Bella took the hold of my hand and together we made our way toward the group of men who were standing there and observing our every move.

And for some reason, it felt dangerous.