His Rose Without Thorns (Beauty and the Beast retelling)

3. The Sin

-Isabelle-

"Issy!" Mona yelled, jumping into my arms, her full lips pulled into the widest smile I have ever seen. "It's been ages!"

"It's been a year," I said with a laugh, my smile just as large as her were "How've you been?"

"Good, but I think I should be asking you that question," she said, her pretty brown eyes filling with worry.

I had known Mona all my life. We had been next-door neighbours, after all, knowing each other since we were in diapers. She had been there every step of the way when my mom got sick, all the way to her dying breath and had even come along to Pennsylvania to help us move into our new home. The home I had left to try and help my sister before we ended up on the streets, trying to hovel enough money to pay off impossible debts.

"I'm good," I said, but the words sounded unbelievable to even me.

I had told Mona everything, talking to her made the three hours I drove to New York City seem almost bearable. I told her about the men bursting into our house, taking my father and the entire history that connected my family to the Blackthorns. It was safe to say my best friend was in complete and utter shock.

"Have you found anything about Blackthorn?" I asked, taking off the bag I had slung over my shoulder, filled with underwear, bras, a few pieces of clothing, makeup and other necessities, gently putting it on the plush pink couch in Mona's living room.

Mona nodded her head, her shoulder-length locks bouncing. "Blackthorns is a pretty known name around here, I swear that man owns everything," she said with a snort as she locked the door of her apartment. "It's pretty unlikely you'll be able to make a meeting with him. But one of my friends, I actually think you might know her, Sydney, remember from Ms. Rogers's class—?"

"Mona," I said sharply, raising my eyebrows. "Focus."

"Sorry," she said, wincing, indicating for me to take a seat on the couch while she went to get us something to drink. "Anyway, she works at this club called 'The Sin' and guess who's one of the owners."

"Blackthorn?!"

"Yup," Mona said, popping the 'p' as she opened her fridge. "Anything you want? Ice tea? Water?"

"Ice tea please," I told her and she nodded.

"Okay, anyway, I was talking to Sydney and she told me about how her boss was pounding on her and the others because tonight Blackthorn and some other important guys are going over there," she supplied, looking at me up with wide eyes, so distracted by her own story she let some of the liquid from the bottle of ice tea spill. "Oh shit," she said, looking down at the mess.

"Mona, you're amazing!" I exclaimed, jumping up.

Mona smiled as she wiped at the counter. "You're amazing too, Issy. Now what are we going to do? You know, now that we know where Blackthorn is."

My smile faltered.

I very much doubt I could walk up to Xavier Blackthorn and demand to talk with him. But maybe if I asked nicely enough, and looked nice enough I could impress him enough to have a chat with me. My dad had said I had excellent charm when I wanted to, but then again, could I trust my father's words? He was a liar and a murderer.

"It's Saturday night," I said, looking at Mona, forcing a smile onto my face as I tried to desperately calm my nerves. "Wanna go clubbing?"

-Xavier-

"Xavier! Daniel! My boy's!" Jameson Laurent said, a large smile plastered on his aging, handsome face. "How're you?" he said, looking as if he wanted to pull me into a hug, but knew better than that, knew I would've cut off his fingers before I let him touch me. Daniel didn't have such qualms and immediately allowed Jameson to pull him into a firm greeting, patting him on the back.