Rome, Italy

Layla let herself fall onto the bed of the hotel she was currently staying in, freedom hugging her as she breathed in the new scent of her home- her freedom- Rome. Which is Luciano's hometown, apparently, Layla was not aware of that yet.

She reached for the napkin where Luciano had left a note in, she kept looking at it, debating on whether she should call him or not, but why was she even thinking about calling him? It didn't even make sense to her, but it felt right to call him.

She probably should get some sleep, she thought, so she buried herself into the bed and as soon as her head hit the pillow, she fell asleep.

•••••••

The night wasn't still over for Luciano, it had just begun for him, because his business was only doable at night. Nevertheless, the night was always young until the sun decides to replace the darkness with light.

Which was never the case in his life, there has never been any light to light up his never-ending darkness.

He was sitting at the VIP-Lounge of the strip club, his naturally dangerous aura seeming to be a magnet for women in here, which annoyed him. He only had eyes for one woman right now, who was seeming to be impossible to get, not that he compared to her to an object, he was only trying to get her attention—or at least praying to get it.

He took a good look around, watching the female dancers do their jobs as men threw money at their revealed bodies, their nipples covered with tape and only wearing a thong, which was already revealing their bottoms. It was a good sight when he first started to do this business, but soon he became tired of seeing such loose women, he wanted a real woman—someone he would want to be around every second.

He couldn't help but think about how Layla slept next to him, she looked so cute and beautiful—like a goddess. There was just something about her that he couldn't figure out like he mostly did with other women, she was so different, so mysterious about her that he couldn't put his finger on it, but yet it drew him even closer to her.

She seemed to be an independent young woman, too wise for her age because of her life experiences, she was inside a darkness, waiting for someone to save her even though she did not want to.

He had noticed her beautiful body as well, her curves, her brown glowing skin, her braids—she had let the half of them down and the other half was in a bun—making her look more beautiful than she already was. He couldn't help but notice her big bottom and breasts, he was a man after all, and she was the only woman who made him horny at the sight of her.

He felt like he was going crazy, he didn't even know this woman yet she was getting his full attention. It made him mad that he was so crazy about a woman who wasn't even his, it made him crazy that he wanted something so bad, which was something he never did, he had gotten everything he wanted in the end. However, he wasn't sure if he was going to succeed this time, but it was worth a try.

Is it just lust? He asked himself. It could be, but it isn't, he couldn't figure it out.

He pulled himself out of his thoughts as a woman made her way up to him, who was clearly working here as she carried a tray with drinks and almost dressed like a stripper—except the tight black skirt she was wearing and a bralette, which left nothing to the imagination either.

Luciano really needed a drink right now or he was going to kill someone tonight, he was angry that the man he was going to do business with was late, again.

However, this time he will not have any mercy.

He grabbed two shots of Tequila and chunked them down in a second, tapping his feet on the ground impatiently, would he ever see her again? He thought. He might've the chance to see her, the world was so small after all and they were in the same country together, but not knowing where she was, was slowly driving him insane.

The confusion as to why he was even thinking about her was driving him more into craziness than the urge to see her so badly, and he couldn't even do anything about it—except drink his mind out of that stuff—which he was going to do tonight gladly.

However, business was going to be done first.

"You know I could blow off your brains if I wasn't doing to do business with you both." Luciano stated as Dante laughed along with Alejandro, "As impatient as always I see." Dante added, smirking smugly with Alejandro.

"Shut the fuck up, now let's get to business gentlemen, shall we?"

••••••••••

Layla left the motel, in hope to find a job, she walked around the streets of Rome, watching all these people walk hectically and some were walking in a relaxed way, however, the majority was almost running hectically, trying to reach their destination.

Where was she going to start? How was she going to live here? She kept on asking herself as she walked, trying to gather her messy thoughts, sighing in a deep breath.

Suddenly, she bumped into someone, "Oh my gosh! I am so sorry, let me help you." She exclaimed as she helped the girl with picking up her books, the girl looked at Layla for a brief moment. "No need to be sorry, I wasn't watching where I was going anyway." The girl chuckled.

Both of the young women stood up, Layla handed her the books, "Thanks, I am Valentina by the way. You don't seem like you're from here." Valentina introduced herself, examining Layla while she pushed up her glasses a little bit. "Yup, definitely not from here." She stated quietly, but loud enough for Layla to hear.

"Um, yeah, I actually just moved here and I am searching for a job. I am Layla by the way." Layla informed her, watching Valentina's smile brighten up adorably. "Well, I know someone who could get you a job, but you need to have talent for it." Valentina told her, thinking for a minute before she added, "We can go to get a coffee if you want and we can talk about the specifics there."

Layla thought for a moment, her trust-issues kicking in as she had a little war with it inside before she came to a decision, "Um, sure."

"Great! I like you already, maybe we can be friends or oh my god, we could be besties!" Valentina exclaimed excitedly like a little girl as Layla let out a soft giggle, liking Valentina's childish attitude, which reminded her of her innocent and young self, who had died a long time ago.

The two young woman sat down at a Café, "So Layla, tell me a little bit about yourself." Valentina told her, a smile full of excitement playing on her lips, which made Layla smile, Valentina's positive energy was so powerful that it could overpower almost every kind of sorrow and sadness.

However, Layla knew that she couldn't tell anyone neither her story nor the reason why she came here in the first place, so she settled with a lie again. "Well, I always loved Italy and I always wanted to live here someday, so I decided to fulfill my dream while I am still young. A fresh start is what I needed I guess, what about you?" She told her, hoping that she would buy it, so it could save her for now.

"Everyone needs a fresh start once in their life, I think. Well, I was born and raised here, I am currently going to university and helping out in a local Live Music Joint, which is actually owned by a close friend of mine. There are actually people singing their own lyrics and some people are reading their poems to the audience at reading days." She informed Layla.

"And, um, my friend needs someone creative to do these things and he's currently looking for a bartender as well."

Layla thought about it for a moment, maybe singing her lyrics and reading her poems to the audience wasn't really a bad idea, some people had told her that she had an amazing voice anyway.

She brushed the thought away immediately as a flashback of her time with Dimitri popped into her head.

Layla sat on the puffy couch of the library, which was the only place she was allowed to go by herself, with her book in her hands, she started writing whatever it was in her mind, whether it be poems full of the storms of her feelings or lyrics to a song she had just created in her mind.

She started to hum a tune and soon she began to sing a little bit quietly in order not to be heard by anyone as she did so.

Suddenly, she heard the voice that even haunted her in her dreams, "You've got a nice voice, honey." Dimitri, also known as the person she loathed the most, said. She looked down and didn't reply, which made him click his tongue and shake his head.

"Come on, sing for me." She heard him ordering softly, she got up and put her books away, "I need to go." She mumbled as she tried to walk away from him. Just as she was about to leave, Dimitri grabbed her bicep roughly and slammed her against his hard chest, "I don't remember allowing you to go." He said as he looked down at her as she started to tremble, scared that he would beat her again.

Who knows what else he could do to her again...

"I'm sorry." She whispered, looking down as she did not even dare to look up to the man who destroyed her youth. "Hm, you always are." He hummed lowly, leaning down to her level, he tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear, "But you still try to disobey me." He whispered into her ear, which made her shudder in fear. She didn't want to experience everything all over again.

"It won't happen again, I promise." Her voice came out as a whisper, her eyes glued to the ground in complete fear of the monster in front of her. "Maybe a little punishment will do good for both of us, I'd have my fun and you'd be disciplined, it's a win for both of us." He told her as he gripped her chin and made her look into his devilish eyes, he smirked as he saw her face completely covered with fear.

"You don't have to do this, Dimitri, I swear to you, I'll never disobey you ever again." She pleaded as he closed the distance between them, slamming her body against his, "I'm glad that this room is soundproof, so no one will hear your screams of pleasure except me." He stated, which made Layla's anger raise to a whole another level.

"They are screams of pain because you fucking took my virginity against my will, you are still taking my body against my fucking will. But I assure you Dimitri Macrino, I am sure as hell going to kill you with my bare hands! You can take my body, but my soul and mind are always going to be mine only." She told him angrily, pushing him away as she ran towards the door.

Just as she was about to exit, Dimitri grabbed her and slammed her back against the door hardly, making her grunt in pain, her head snapped to the other side as he slapped her with the back of his hand, his ring making her lips bleed.

She didn't cry nor did she make a sound this time in order not to satisfy Dimitri, "Listen to me, you fucking whore, you are mine. I fucking bought you from your parents, and I can do whatever the heck I want to do with you! Even your parents didn't want a whore like you! You are mine now and no one is going to save you, do you understand?" He yelled at her, inching more closer to her and closing the distance between their bodies.

She didn't reply for a while, which earned her three hard slaps across her face, she almost fell to the floor if he wasn't holding her too tightly against the door. "I won't repeat myself." He stated, tearing off her clothes, which made her scream, "I understand!"

He continued to rip her clothes from her body until she was in her underwear, "No! No! Please, don't do this. I will do whatever the heck you want, but please don't do this Dimitri!" She kept on pleading as she tried to cover herself as much as she could, but it was no use.

"Too late for that, sunshine." He said, ripping her underwear away completely leaving her bare which made her tears turn into a river. Fighting back was no use, he was only going to hurt her again and again if she did anything, so she decided to try to shut off her mind, but she failed miserably.

She was completely aware as he claimed her body against her will once again.

"Layla?"

"Layla!"

"Earth to Layla, whoop whoop!"

A girly voice brought Layla back to reality, making her notice her surroundings. "Oh, I'm so sorry I zoned out a bit." She threw a fake-smile at Valentina, she smiled back, "No problem, so what do you think about my offer?"

"I think your offer sounds amazing." Layla informed her, making Valentina cheer like a baby, which made Layla smile genuinely, "You're so childish."

"I know, but sometimes I can be deadly serious. Shall we go?" Valentina asked as Layla nodded in approval. After they both had paid for their order, the two young woman walked around Rome. Layla listened as Valentina talked about the city, which seemed interesting to her, she wasn't a person who liked talking too much, so it was good that she had Valentina's company, she had grown to like it in such a short notice.

She never really had any friends and she never tried to socialize with anyone, in fact, she never trusted anyone enough, she always had to feel paranoid and wonder if she can trust anyone at all. However, it was different this time, she felt like a certain connection had started to form between them.

"Man, I already feel like we're going to be the bestest best friends!" Valentina exclaimed as she twirled around in excitement like a child. Layla laughed wholeheartedly and mumbled a 'yeah', then she added, "We might need to work on how to use adjectives properly though."

Valentina slapped her arm playfully, "Whatever." She said, still continuing to walk with Layla. Suddenly, Layla stopped in her tracks as she saw the infamous Luciano, walking with Alejandro by his side. She wondered what they were doing here. She wanted to disappear at that exact moment, which was impossible.

Short after, Valentina stopped walking and asked Layla why she had stopped walking, then she spotted the two handsome men as well. "Holy mother of god, these two are fine as hell." Valentina said in awe as her mouth hung open for a moment.

Luciano spotted Layla immediately, a smirk making its way to his lips as he started to head towards her, seeing her in shock made his smirk grow wider and made him almost laugh soundly, which only came out in a low chuckle.

"Well, fate definitely wants us to be together, amore."

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

I am so sorry for updating so slow, I only have a few exams left, then I'll update more often I promise!

Vote, comment, PM, feel free to do whatever you want.

Peace out!