Rivals To Lovers | ✔️

- 𝐶ℎ𝑎𝑝𝑡𝑒𝑟 1 -

Most people know me as a threat. A person they knew very well not to mess with. I was smart, fast, and never thought twice about my decisions. You see, I grew up in the Mafia where mercy was unheard of when business came into place.

Killing, torturing, and fighting for money and power was a daily game. A game ever so deadly. Just our names were enough to intimidate people into getting what we wanted.

My name is Roxanne Knight, second in line of the Italian Mafia. I was Carlos Knights' first-born child. When I was sixteen I was to be trained to become an assassin until I became of age to go on missions. I was one of the best-trained assassins known in all of Italy.

People called me 'The Red Shadow'. Which in Italian would be 'L'Ombra Rossa'. There'd be rumors about the suspicious woman who lived in shadows that killed madmen for many reasons. Some knew who I was, but only the ones I wanted them to know.

Not one man has gotten away from me in the process except for...Mattheo Anderson. He was the son of the American Mafia leader, also a trained assassin. But somehow he never matched up to me. In all the many attempted but failed ways I've tried to kill him, he has been my hardest target for the longest time.

When I was 18, I was assigned on my first mission to kill him. But I failed. Every now and then we'd cross paths on our own missions and we'd fight but we'd never seem to finish it. Now that I'm 21 things are different.

The last time we crossed paths was a few months ago. He managed to escape like he always does, but that wasn't the worst part. I got distracted by what I was sent for and almost got myself killed.

My parents have told me many times to just drop it and forget about him, but I refused to let him get away with his part. I am a person who strongly believes in the power of words and I gave my word that I would kill him. And I will.

I was putting in my diamond earrings, finishing up my look for an event I had to attend when my phone rang. Glancing at the caller ID, It was my sister, Camila.

"Hey, everything ok?" I ask, picking up my phone. Still struggling to put in the earring.

"Hey, yeah. Where are you? You can't be late for this event and it starts in an hour," she says officiously, making me roll my eyes. As If I didn't already know that.

"When have I ever been late, sis," I say in a calm tone. Finally managing to put in the stupid earring. I let out a sigh of relief before picking up my red lipstick and painting my lips a deep red, somewhat a blood color.

"And please, please don't get distracted. There's a slight chance Mattheo might be there, and I've run out of excuses covering for your ass," Camila says as I smirked looking at my reflection in the mirror.

Mattheo? The one-man I hated with the depths of my soul and wouldn't care a damn if he died before my eyes. But, I would be a little jealous if someone got to him before I did. Only because I've been at it for years now.

"Okay, but I can't promise anything," I say, cutting off Camila's complaint by blowing kisses into the phone and then hanging up.

I slip on my red bottom heels while walking out of the bathroom. I grab my Glock and a few knives, of course. Slipping them into my thigh strap.

With my car keys in hand, I take the stairs to the parking lot. I press the unlock button on the car remote looking for Bloody Mary. And before you asks, yes, I name my cars. My cars mean everything to me, they are one of my fewly prized possessions.

"Off we go baby," I say, hopping into my red Bugatti and flooring the paddle making the engine roar to life.

Pulling up to the casino, I got out of my car admiring the luxurious building. It was probably around one thousand seventy-nine feet tall, with a beautiful red carpet leading to the entrance where there were two bodyguards in charge of the guests list.