Here's the first chapter, I hope you guys enjoy it ❤️ Please don't forget to vote and comment x

~ Luciana's POV ~

I didn't know working was this hard. All my life I grew up waiting to get out of the education system and to make a life for myself. Now for the last year I've been wishing I could go back to rushing to do my math homework ten minutes before the class with that teacher.

"Lucy, Maria isn't at her desk so you'll need to take coffee into his office, four cups. Now." I scoffed at the way Melanie, my boss's stuck up assistant spoke to me.

Bitch I'm pretty sure that's your job, being the assistant and all.

She's the sort of person who would just pass her jobs onto other people, even though they were actually trying to get some work done before 5pm so they could leave on time. I was no exception to this but as usual I was taken away from my work to do stupid tasks for other people.

I slipped my 5 inch heels back on under my desk before going off to make the coffee. The worst thing about working at a posh company is that you always have to look your best. That means hair done, make up always intact, always in dresses and the worst part. Heels all day, everyday.

I carried the tray of four cups of coffee and knocked on the door before being called inside. The whole time I walked towards the desk with the tray, I could feel all eyes on me while my mind was just focused on not tripping and getting fired for spilling hot coffee on someone.

Although...

Images of late mornings and a stress free life filled my mind at the thought of not having to be here anymore.

I mentally slapped myself to keep my mind focussed on the task in front of me. I placed the first cup in front of my boss who was glaring at me, he's never liked me. I'm used to it.

There was a tense atmosphere in the room as I turned to where his guests were sitting, all three of them were dressed in those fancy suits you could tell were professionally tailored.

My eyes first landed on the blonde one who was glaring at me as well. I resisted the urge to roll my eyes at him and placed the coffee cup in front of him.

Next I turned to the slightly more friendlier looking one who had brown hair and bright blue eyes. I placed the cup in front of him causing him to send me a slight nod, which I took as a thank you.

Finally I turned to the last one, who, from first glance, seemed to be the more important one of the three. He had this aura about him, like he should be feared, yet respected. His deep brown eyes followed my movements as I carefully placed the cup in front him. I held his stare for a moment, but his expression held no emotion while he stared back at me.

"You can leave now Luciana." I turned to my boss who nodded towards the door. I had been telling him since the day I first joined that I didn't go by Luciana, and to just call me Lucy, over a year ago. But of course he never listened and every time I corrected him he told me to remind him next time.

"It's Lucy, sir." He nodded and muttered an apology to me, while waving his hand towards the door basically telling me to get out.

I'm too over-qualified for this.

I turned around to leave but not before stealing another glance at the mysterious brown haired man who was still staring at me. But this time there was something else in his eyes, which I couldn't quite put my finger on.

Half an hour later the three of them left his office, muttering between themselves as they made their way down the hall towards the elevator. My eyes followed them as they passed my office, each of them turning to glance at me through my open door, but his stare lasted just a little longer than the rest.

I let out a sigh and carried on with my work, knowing it was going to take me much longer than an hour to get this done. I should have made myself a freaking cup of coffee too since I knew I was going to be here after hours, for the third time this week.

Almost two hours after everyone had left, I finally finished and tidied up my desk before grabbing my handbag and my coat. I made my way through the silent building on the upper east side of New York and out to the parking lot where my baby was parked.

I grabbed my keys to my BMW, courtesy of working here for a year, as I walked towards my car in the now deserted lot. My eyes wandered around the lot as a breeze picked up. Just as I reached my car, my eyes landed on a black SUV parked conveniently across the street. I couldn't see through the tinted windows, but there was definitely someone inside since the headlights were on.

I shook my head at the paranoia that began to surface and got inside, quickly turning the engine on so that the car would start to warm up.

It was on cold, dark nights like these that I always realised I just wasn't meant for the cold.

<<<<<<< >>>>>>> <<<<<<<

I rolled my eyes at my best friend Daliah who was trying to force me into a short black dress and a pair of seriously bright pink heels.

Brighter than my future, I'm telling you.

"It's not going to happen. Maybe something a little more...not that." She rolled her eyes at my comment but nodded nonetheless allowing me to choose my own shoes. I wasn't going to win if I argued with her over the dress. She was a law student, I could never ever win. She insisted on coming over to help me get ready, I wasn't sure if she was trying to be nice or tell me that my fashion sense is just wrong. But she was eventually happy with my choice, although it took a while.

"You look cute." I gave her a tight lipped smile causing her to laugh. I wasn't in the best mood with her because she was forcing me to leave the comfort of my apartment to go out clubbing, in the middle of winter.

I'm a girl of many talents okay, but braving the cold in the shortest dress known to mankind is not something I could do easily.

But girl, I'm gonna do it anyway, but only because I spent an hour on my make up and I'm not about to let it go to waste.

Daliah and I had been best friends since we were in middle school. I honestly don't know what I would do without her, she's been there for me through all the hard times I had with my mom and my brother. She acted like a sister to me ever since I met her. I couldn't imagine losing her, not properly. Of course we fought like sisters, but we always managed to get over it pretty quickly. It was those sort of arguments where you'll both ignore each other for a few minutes then something will happen and you'll be talking again like there was no problem before. We did sometimes have bigger arguments too, but we never went longer than a week without speaking; things always managed to work themselves out.

We finally made it to the club and after waiting in the line for twenty minutes in the freezing cold we made it inside. We made a B line straight for the bar to start the night off properly with a few shots.

"Slow down Lucy, I thought you were going steady tonight." I glanced over at Daliah who was watching me order my third shot in a space of ten minutes.

"Eh, we'll do that next time." I sent her a smirk before throwing the shot back, revelling in the burning sensation that followed. We took a few more shots together before I took Daliah's hand and dragged her over to the dance floor. Within seconds I felt someone press themselves against me from behind, his breath felt warm against my neck as he wrapped his arms around my waist.

"You seemed to be enjoying yourself over there with those shots." The boost from the alcohol giving me some new found confidence, I turned around to face him admiring his deep blue eyes and blonde hair. "Hm, they were fun, but I can think of some other things I might enjoy more."

As soon as the words left my mouth a smirk stretched across his face and he stepped back stretching out his hand. I had to admit it was a little early for him to basically ask me if I wanted to go and have sex with him, I didn't think the little harmless flirting between us just now would lead so quickly to this.

I tentatively stared at his hand before turning to find Daliah who was already preoccupied with a guy of her own. I turned back to look at his hand, knowing exactly what he meant. I think he could sense my apprehension but before he could say a word I placed my hand in his allowing him to guide me through the club.

We made our way towards the back door and the second he opened the door the cold air hit me. We stepped outside letting the door slam shut behind us, leaving us in a dark alleyway. He placed his hands on my waist pressing me up against the cold wall, but something was off about the way he was holding me.

It wasn't the sort of hold that you would expect in a situation like this, like the 'I'm going hold you here so I can screw your brains out' type of hold, it was more of a 'I'm just holding you here and waiting for something' hold. The second the first tall figured rounded the corner it was like a bucket of cold water had been thrown over me, taking me out of my intoxicated state.

I tried to push the guy away from me but his hold on me only tightened. "Let me go!"

"No can do principessa." (Princess) I frowned at his sudden Italian accent, which he definitely didn't have before. I struggled against him again but soon gave up when I realised it was absolutely useless. He was stronger than I would ever be.

I carefully followed the movement of the figures as they came closer and soon as they were close enough my eyes widened in recognition. My eyes met his deep blue ones as he gave me a glare similar to the one he gave me earlier that week when he met my boss.

Actually no scratch that, this one was much more intense.

"You're coming with me Luciana." His thick Italian accent lingered in the air while the rest of his men stood around me making sure I couldn't leave. I frowned at the use of my full name and attempted to step forward but was once again pulled back.

"Why?" I know most people would have kicked and screamed in my situation but I knew it was hopeless. So I might as well try to understand what was going on.

"You'll find out when you speak to the capo." (Boss)

Before I could respond to him a sharp sting in my neck caught my attention. I turned to see the guy from the club retract a needle from my neck just as my eyes began to close.

I didn't like him very much.

<<<<<<< >>>>>>> <<<<<<<

I sent the guy another glare, who I now know to be called Diego while he just rolled his eyes in response.

Ever since I woke up I've been glaring at him whenever he looked at me. He tried to introduce himself to me but I didn't respond, only because he obviously already knew who I was and I didn't care to make conversation with the person who tricked me.

"You can stop with the looks now, I'm not going to do anything to you."

"That's because you've already done everything." He let out a scoff and turned towards me on his chair to face me properly. I let my eyes roam over his features, noticing a couple of scars dotted around his face. He couldn't have been older than 25. It's actually a shame I got to admire his beauty, although I would never let him know that, while he had to look at me. I must have looked like pure crap - I mean make up everywhere, my hair a complete mess and I'm pretty sure my dress was dirty. "I could have done worse."

"Actually no, baiting someone in a club, drugging them and then holding them hostage is pretty bad in my books." My words caused his lips to tug slightly but he quickly covered up his smile. "I was just following orders. And anyway, you're not hurt are you? So everything is fine."

I scoffed at the word fine and turned my face away from him. I would have turned around but I was currently tied to a chair opposite him, so I couldn't really do much. The whole chair tying thing was a bit excessive though, I mean I'm already trapped in a dark room with an idiot as a guard dog and I'm pretty sure the door is locked.

And if that didn't help, I had absolutely no idea where I was.

So it's not like I was going to be going anywhere on my own anytime soon.

"Why am I here Diego?" He shook his head and stood to his feet when the sound of the door unlocking echoed in the room.
"The capo will tell you that." I nodded pretending like I knew what Capo meant, honestly I had no freaking clue. My Italian was super rusty.

I did used to speak Italian once upon a time, but that part of me is long gone. I hadn't even tried to speak it since I was ten, which was thirteen years ago.

My attention was brought back to my current situation when the same guy with those blue eyes came back into view, flanked by two men who I didn't recognise. "The Capo will be here in a minute, so make sure she looks better than that-" His eyes shifted to mine and he sent me a subtle smirk when I narrowed my eyes at him. "- and check she's not hurt."

"You'll be hurt in a minute if-" I was quickly cut off when Diego rushed over to me and placed his hand over my mouth to stop me from finishing my sentence. "She didn't mean that Tomasso, just give me a minute with her."

Tomasso sent me a glare but I could tell he was working hard to restrain himself from coming closer to me, probably because they didn't want me hurt. He sent Diego a nod and tossed him what seemed to be a packet of baby wipes before turning to speak to the men behind him. I turned my narrowed gaze to Diego who was glaring at me and removing one of the wipes from the packet.

"Close your eyes." I decided it was better to just do what he said since he was already angry for some reason and allowed him to wipe off the make up on my face.
"Are you hurt anywhere?" I mentally rolled my eyes as he finished off wiping off the make up.

"Just my ego, that's all." I cracked one eye open to see his lips twitch slightly. "You're fine then."

Before I could say anything else the door opened again causing us both to look towards it. The guy I had been expecting to arrive finally did, once again clad in a fancy suit just like everyone else here. My eyes followed his movements as he spoke to Tomasso before turning to face me for the first time.

His brown eyes studied me before he nodded at Diego who suddenly untied me from the chair. I brought my hands around to my front and rubbed the skin on my wrists which had become sore from all the struggling I did at the start.

"Lasciaci." (Leave us). His deep commanding voice sent shivers through me, but I made sure not to show any sort of reaction while his eyes never left mine, just as he did when I first saw him in my boss's office. Everyone apart from Tomasso and this Italian model infront of me left the room.

"Luciana-" As soon as my name left his perfect lips I felt my insides melt. Is it weird that I love the way he says my name with his thick Italian accent?

If it is I don't care.

"-I'm going to ask you a few questions and I need you to answer them for me." He made his way towards me but still kept a good distance between us.

Isn't that the purpose of asking questions? I mean someone wouldn't go to all this trouble just to ask a few questions and not get an answer.

As soon as his lips shifted into half a smile I realised I had just spoken my whole thought process out loud. All I was going to say was okay, but I guess this man brings out that side of me that I would prefer to keep hidden deep deep inside me.

My rambling side, with absolutely no filter.

"Luciana where is your father?" As soon as he mentioned my father my whole body went rigid, something he definitely didn't miss. The situation was starting to make more sense to me now- why a bunch of fancy Italian men were after me.

The air in the room suddenly became much more tense as he watched my every movement while waiting for my response.

"Why?" I narrowed my eyes at him as he took a seat on the chair opposite me which was previously occupied by Diego. "Because I want to know." This time his tone was a lot more forceful, and no longer pleasant like it was before.

"I don't know where he is." My answer clearly didn't please either of the two since they both suddenly sent glares my way. Something I would much rather not be on the receiving end of.
"Don't lie to me. Where is he?"

"I don't know. The last I heard he was in Italy, where my mother left him. That's it." My attention shifted to Tomasso who stepped closer to me his head tilted slightly to the side. "You expect us to believe that? We'll get it out of you sweetheart, whatever it takes."

"Enough Tomasso. Aspetta fuori." (Wait outside). Tomasso looked between his boss and I for a moment before eventually leaving the room, but not before sending me one last glare. He really doesn't like me and trust me, the feeling is mutual.

"Luciana-"

"Call me Lucy. Not Luciana." My interruption seemed to catch him off guard but he paid no attention to it and just carried on with what he was going to say.

"Your father is a traitor. I need you to tell me what you know about where he is. Anything."

"Even if I knew anything, why would I help you? Look at where I am, obviously this is all because of you." I gestured to the small dimly lit room which they had kept me locked inside for God knows how long.

"You're not hurt though, right?" I let out a sigh of frustration and shook my head. They were all so obsessed with making sure I wasn't hurt, it didn't matter if they hurt me or not, this was still illegal. "No I'm not hurt, but that doesn't make this any better. You kidnapped me."

"You can leave once I've got what I want from you." I shook my head again, not liking the constant mention of my father. There's a reason why my mother left him thirteen years ago, and moved me and my brother all the way to New York. We've never spoken about him since, none of us could bring ourselves remember everything that happened. It was like those years never happened, on the outside we acted like it never did. But I know for a fact on the inside for each of us it was a whole different story.

"I don't know where he is. I can't help you." The finality in my tone seemed to piss him off but he was doing a good job at controlling his emotions. He nodded without any emotion and stood to his feet.

"Can I leave now?" He shook his head at my question as he began to pace around the room deep in thought, his scent wafting towards me as he did. As you can imagine, he smelt absolutely divine.

"No. Since you're not willing to help me, I need one more thing from you Luciana." He turned to look at me, his eyes focussing on mine as he did. "I have a...gala, I need to attend tonight. I need you to be my date."