Loving a Killer | 18+

1.7 - New Year

| Norah |

New Year's Eve couldn't have come any sooner, and every day since Christmas seemed to be a blur. Maddox was in his office, planning 'target strikes', as we liked to call them, while my brothers got back to their own jobs.

Xander was by my side almost every day since Christmas. Both he and I really didn't have anything to attend to lately, so we kept up with each other and hung out most days in the library or in the living room.

I'd been talking to Matteo the most out of all my brothers and he let me in on things I was curious about. I had just recently found out that Ricardo was the underboss since he was going to take over when Adriano was ready to give up being head of the mob. I suspected nonetheless anyways since he was the oldest.

Luca was consigliere, meaning that when Adriano wasn't available to meet with our allying families, Luca stood in his place. Basically, Luca gathered all the intel for our father when he was busy doing other things, and then would advise Adriano on his decisions. Once I thought about it, it suited Luca perfectly. He may have been a man of few words, but he was undoubtedly smart and wise in his choices.

Finally, and quite surprisingly, Matteo was head of the drug empire. It was no shock to me to hear that my family was trading. When Matteo told me, I was more shocked that a guy as easy-going as him was meeting his associates weekly to get the word on how the trades went and making sure, 'profit was being made,' as he put it.

Pretty soon, I wonder what part I would play in all of this.

"You look pretty zoned out," Xander walked up to me from out of the small dancing crowd in the VIP section of Oasi. In his hand was a glass of whiskey on the rocks and a cranberry vodka for me.

He already knew me too well.

"Just thinking about things is all. Thanks," I explained briefly and thanked him, sitting up to take the drink from him before he sat beside me on the plush couch.

The nightclub was pulsing just the same as it had the night Maddox took me here. The lights strobing and changing color from blue to green, purple to red. When the color flipped to red, it set an ambiance over the room that was hard to explain. The red reminded me of dancing in the dense crowd with Maddox. The memories of his hands running over my hips and his sudden kiss made a pit form in my stomach, not to even mention what happened in the locked office down the hall...

"It's crazy busy tonight. I hear they aren't letting anyone else enter for the night," Xander's comment brought me out of my thoughts. I nodded in agreement, thankful we were in the VIP balcony over the crowd, away from all the sweaty bodies that filled the dance floor.

"You think this Feliks guy is going to be easy?" I changed the subject by asking about our next hit. It was only a few days away, but when I saw the picture of the intimidating and quite terrifying man, I questioned how difficult this job would be. Something deep down was telling me that this wasn't going to be like the others.

Xander didn't answer me right away. He sipped his whiskey and sat back before looking at me.

"I don't know. He's - what do you say - sort of a beast. I've heard about him and the things he does to women..." Xander explained briefly but trailed off. Something was deep-set in his eyes. His eyes went back to the whiskey, and soon enough he downed the rest of it like it was nothing.