'The scars of your love remind me of us. They keep me thinking that we almost had it all.'

***

THE name instantly registered in my brain. I felt my mood shift a small bit at the mention of Alejandro.

He had to have been the most powerful man here in New York. Heck, I'm pretty sure the whole world knew about him and his business. If you could even call it that.

Russo was known for being the leader of the most ruthless and powerful Mafia Gang to ever rise in the big apple. He had people everywhere. Undercover spies lurking in places you wouldn't expect them to be. Hiding in plain sight. You're favourite ice-cream man or the local shop owner. He had something on everyone and used it to his advantage. Gaining more and more allies as the days went on. He could have someone watching over him right here, right now, and none of us were aware of it.

Rumour has it, Alejandro had been in here for up to fifteen years, but had still managed to run his gang with full force as if he were in two places at once.

I wouldn't put that past him.

He was arrested and put on trial for drug possession and man slaughter- which of course, were true accusations, but according to the lack of evidence, he could only be taken in for the selling and dealing of illegal substances. He never left a trace behind so I truly wondered where he had messed up.

His sentence, initially fifteen years had been cut down to only ten, on the basis of good behavior. In which this would be his last year, and then he would officially be a free man once again. The man had been put in here when he was merely twenty two, basically throwing his whole life away. But it was almost inevitable, he had to follow in his father's footsteps. Carlos Russo. Who had died unexpectedly seven years ago as the file leads on.

I've crossed paths with Alejandro only once during my time working here. His infamous smirk replayed in my mind and I rolled my eyes. He had been taken out of his cell and I had walked past him in haste, trying to reach my office which had been located only a few blocks down from his, when we locked eyes. He must have assumed that his smile had an effect on me, when really I couldn't have cared less. I was here for my job and that was my only purpose.

I was surprised at the reduction in his sentence. He never displayed good behavior, I couldn't count how many fights he had caused or the amount of inmates he had angered and sent to the nurses bleeding out. He was on the bad side of mostly everyone here, staff included. But I hadn't been around for too long to witness anything that serious happen.

He must have made a deal with someone of high authority to get his sentence dropped. Of course he had. Life fed him with a silver spoon and never once left his mouth.

According to what I knew, Alejandro had no family. No spouse, children or any offspring at all.

I was knocked out of my thoughts when I heard a faint knock at my door which was slightly ajar. I noticed Ana's silhouette and beckoned her to come inside. She shut the door behind her and walked up to my desk.

"it's your lunch break Hun, why are you still cooped up in here?" I looked at her in confusion. Lunch break? Already? Had I really been analyzing his file for almost three hours? I tried to brush it off by laughing at her confusion. "I was just wrapping up with my reading, we can head out to eat in a second." I had spent my lunch breaks with Ana almost every day for the past two months. It was our little tradition and I was glad I had her as a friend here.

"Is that Russo's file?" she asked unsurely. I nodded and looked up at her in question. "Oh. Damn. I'm lucky I didn't get him, I feel really bad for you." My confusion was more prominent now. "What do you mean 'get him'?" I asked. She took a seat on the small bed next to me and swung her legs. Brushing the short hair out of her eyes as she spoke. "Oh it completely slipped my mind that you weren't here yesterday. Jonah announced to the nursing staff that we're being paired with certain inmates to run the annual gym program starting tomorrow. It's only about a month long. You have to run them through a bunch of tests to record their physical attributes for the yearly checkup."

I groaned and dropped my head against the desk with a soft thud. Great. The last thing I wanted to do was surround myself with anyone who I didn't have to. "Is it really necessary? That doesn't sound too fun for us." She sighed and got up. Indicating that it was time for us to leave before our break was actually over. "It doesn't at all but you know how Jonah is. Once he has his mind made up there's no going back."

I got up with her and rolled my eyes. Jonah was the 'head nurse' here at Rikers. He handles what everyone eats and what activities they perform on a day to day basis. The old man was rather stubborn and I knew he wouldn't budge if I had begged him to drop out of this silly program. I'm pretty sure a bunch of grown prisoners could take care of themselves. I mean, this was a prison, not kindergarten.

"Don't be so glum Amelie, wrinkles remember. Also it won't be that bad. These guys are all kinda hot."

"And dangerous" I countered

"Oh come on! Its sexy." I rolled my eyes at her. Anastasia took a heavy liking to the men here. It was no secret. I wouldn't be surprised if she had her way with some of them. But I wouldn't never judge, its her body and she can do whatever she pleases with it.

"Yes. Because nothing screams sex appeal like drug dealers, murderers and rapists." I locked the gate behind us as we continued down the corridor, making sure it was locked properly and that we were safe wandering alone on this side of the building. The place was rather huge, as expected and I hoped I would never find myself getting lost in these stretched halls.

"Well, when you look at it like that it's pretty nasty. And anyway, I go for the lower class criminals, you know, petty theft, tax fraud and all that." I shook my head and laughed along with her. I knew she was joking, well at least I hope she was.

We arrived at the cafeteria for staff in which most of them were here, seated and enjoying lunch while other members who already had their break, were taking their shift.

We sat down at a table near the entrance and I felt around my front pocket for my phone, but my hands met nothing and I cursed. "Everything okay?" Ana asked. "Yeah I just forgot my phone, I'll go back and get it quickly." She grabbed my hand before I could move any further and a look of worry flashed in her eyes. "Woah are you sure? I don't think there's a guard at your office, shouldn't you just wait?" I lightly shook her arm off me and assured her I'd be fine. With one last unsure look, she nodded her head and let me go on my way.

My feet made soft padding sounds as I walked down the empty hall, and eventually reaching the gate before unlocking it and walking toward my office.

The walls were eerily quiet and I felt my skin line with goosebumps.

Stupid cold weather.

I halted with shock as I watched the scene in front of me unfold. Right there by my door sat the one and only Alejandro Russo, clutching his arm that oozed blood in an almost animated way.

I gasped and he looked up, finally taking notice of my presence.

"Well it was about damn time you got here."

There was that smirk again.

☆

A/n I hope you're enjoying my story so far! Please comment your thoughts and leave a vote.