❝𝒱𝒾𝒸𝓉𝑜𝓇𝒾𝒶, 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝓆𝓊𝑒𝑒𝓃 𝑜𝒻 𝓂𝓎 𝒽𝑒𝒶𝓇𝓉 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝓂𝓎 𝑒𝓂𝓅𝒾𝓇𝑒.❞
˜*°• 𝐈𝐍 𝐖𝐇𝐈𝐂𝐇
Victoria Russo grew up in a world full of money, crime and powerful families. Being a part of the Sacred Eight families, she knew what it mean...
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MIDNIGHT MIRAGE
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LORENZO WALKED INTO AN EMPTY CLUB, loudly calling out for the bartender to serve his regular drink. It wasn't quite accurate to deem the club totally vacant as his friends occupied the largest booth, engaged in conversation while sipping their beverages. They were the only people who had access to this place when it was closed, every employee knowing who they were. Lorenzo settled into the booth and Tom delivered his drink, quickly returning to the bar to prepare for the night ahead. He grabbed his drink and took a sip. The alcohol burned his throat, but that was just what he needed right now.
"Hey, Tom! Could you bring a bottle of water and a couple shots of tequila?!" Eddie shouted, ending his call. Lorenzo was sure he was talking with Gabriella a second ago and that she was coming here because Eddie had the biggest smile on his face.
The people sitting at the booth were Lorenzo's closest friends. They were the children of members of his or the Russo family's gangs. All of them grew up together in the world of the mafia, some younger, some older than the others. But it naturally made them the people Lorenzo trusted with all his heart and soul. It made them his people.
"Why are we here?" a familiar voice echoed through the club and Lorenzo clenched his jaw. Was it possible not to be in the same place as her, at least for one evening? He glanced at two approaching figures and groaned, running a hand through his hair.
Victoria wasn't excited to be here either. When she saw a bright Midnight Mirage sign, she wanted to turn Gabriella's car around and go back home. But one glance from her pregnant sister made her follow Gabriella into the club. His club.
It wasn't the first time she was here. Hell, she had spent a lot of time here because it was her friends' favorite hangout place, especially when it was closed and they were the only ones who could get in. But given the day's events, she wished to be anywhere but here. It would be a miracle if he wasn't here.
"Great, my future husband is here," a sarcastic remark left Victoria's lips when she and Gabriella reached the booth and she noticed him. Lorenzo rolled his eyes, finishing his drink in one gulp. Their friends' eyes widened, gaping at Lorenzo and Victoria as they waited for an explanation.
Victoria grabbed the tequila shots as Gabriella sat down on Eddie's lap and planted a kiss on his cheek. One more thing why it was impossible for Lorenzo and Victoria to avoid each other was the fact that her sister was married to his best friend and expecting their first child together. Eddie Cromwell has been Lorenzo's best friend for over fifteen years now. He wasn't from the family of Sacred Eight, but his father was Lorenzo's father's right-hand man and the two boys grew up around each other, becoming best friends despite Eddie being two years older. But also being friends with Gabriella and Alessandro and being in this close-knit mafia community meant that his friends started to mingle together, forming one big group. The only people in this group who weren't friends were Lorenzo and Victoria.
"What?" Eddie finally asked as Victoria gulped her shots, his eyes jumping between his best friend and his sister-in-law.
Victoria murmured about going to the bar and Luke stood up to go with her, pausing to ask if anyone needed anything. The table was still drowning in silence when Victoria and Luke returned to the table, each carrying bottles of alcohol. They put them on the table and Victoria grabbed the whole bottle of tequila, unscrewing the cap.
"Move," she harshly said to Lorenzo. He rolled his eyes once more and unwillingly moved to the left side, making space for her to sit down as he grabbed the bottle of vodka. Their friends watched them take a few gulps straight from the bottles as they still waited for an explanation.
"Our families want us to get married and we can't say no," Lorenzo finally spoke up and took another sip from the bottle, the drink burning his throat. Harper, one of the youngest in the group, coughed on her drink.
"But we don't do forced marriages," Sebastian said slowly, furrowing his eyebrows.
"We do when it's beneficial," Victoria murmured, her words slightly slurred and her bottle already half empty. "We're not going to be at peace forever. The rebel attacks are more frequent now than ever before."
"Can we stop talking about this?" Lorenzo's low voice cut in, his hand strongly clutching the bottle. His friends looked at him, wanting to talk about it more, but when they saw the clear signs of anger on his face, the wedding topic was dropped immediately.
After spending thirty minutes in the booth, the whole group moved to the private room on the second floor. It was Lorenzo's private room and no one was allowed there, except his friends, guests with a special invitation or the club's employees. The room featured a glass wall, offering a view of the entire first floor where the dance floor, the bar and the booths were, along with comfortable couches, a coffee table and a tablet to order drinks and snacks. The people started to show up for their shifts, meaning that soon the club would be packed with people.
Victoria sat down on the couch, hugging her tequila bottle. She felt slightly tipsy, but it was a good feeling. Gabriella took a seat beside her and Victoria smiled at her older sister, putting her head on Gabriella's shoulder. The older girl wrapped an arm around Victoria's shoulders and pressed a gentle kiss to her temple. At that moment, Victoria felt a deep sense of gratitude for her older sister. Everything sucked a little bit less today because she had Gabriella by her side and she was unsure of how she would have coped with news of her marriage to Lorenzo DeLuca without Gabriella's presence.
