Layla's heels clicked as she walked towards Alejandro's office. Alejandro was playing an important role in and outside the mafia, because he owned several hotels and he was shipping drugs to important people and criminals.

He had actually built an empire of drug trafficking.

With all of her confidence kept on track, she knocked on the door. As soon as she heard a 'yes' she turned the doorknob and entered his office, she closed the door behind her and inhaled deeply. "Come sit down Layla, we need to discuss a few things before you start working as my personal assistant." She heard Alejandro's powerful voice ringing in her ears as she nodded, she looked up to see him wearing a suit, which she had to admit, really looked good on him and formed a powerful aura around him.

She sat down on the chair in front of his desk, "I've to add that this is only temporary Alejandro, I've to leave the country as soon as possible in order to make him forget about me." She stated, he looked at her without showing any expressions, if only it were that easy to forget someone like you, he thought.

Oh no, he was starting to catch feelings towards her, which he should never have done. He knew he was going to regret it, but oh she was such a precious woman, who needed shelter and protection, but never showed it because of her pride.

He fake-coughed, "I am already aware of that, princesa (princess), but don't you think you owe me one, hm?" He wiggled his eyebrows playfully, making Layla chuckle softly, "I really do owe you, that is why I agreed working as your personal assistant until I figure everything out." She responded, which Alejandro admire her more.

She was a really intriguing woman with her womanly curves and her slight attitude, but her intelligence and the way she thought drew him more to her, he really admired the way she fought against her darkest times. He found himself smiling more around her presence, which he never did since he had stepped into this business. He really did not want to feel this questionable feeling, but he was enjoying it at the same time.

"Your day will start at 7 AM, there'll be a weekly schedule prepared for you. You'll accompany my meetings and organize them, you'll get to know my most important partners in this industry as you proceed with your work. Sometimes, you'll be sitting at the reception of my hotels, but not that often. It is as easy as office work actually, you probably know what a personal assistant does and so on."

Layla nodded, carving every single detail inside her mind as she finally felt like her life was coming back on track once. "You'll still have to carry a gun with yourself at all costs, it is for safety reasons. I already witnessed how good you are with guns, so it shouldn't be a problem for you." He said, reminiscing the day where he had saw her handling a gun in her hand flawlessly.

"I don't mind that, I can easily shoot Dimitri if he ever crosses my path before I do." Layla answered coolly, Alejandro smirked, "I saw you handling a gun flawlessly a few times, and I must say that women handling a gun can turn me on anytime."

"Even if they try to shoot your brain off?" Layla asked sarcastically while she smirked, she knew he was flirting with her and she could not have that at the moment, not right now. "If it's you, then I'll consider it." He kept on flirting, which made her roll her eyes mentally, "Well, when can I start working Mr. Gonzalez?" She asked, standing up from her seat at the same time.

"Tomorrow seven am sharp." He replied as she nodded, turning around to leave, she walked towards the door. She felt his eyes burning into her back as she turned the doorknob, "I can feel you staring at me, Mr. Gonzalez. And this is not professional at all, which makes you seem like a pervert actually." She said before she left the room, closing the door behind her, she had left Alejandro admiring her from a far once again.

Standing outside, she admired the air of freedom surrounding her as she closed her eyes, breathing in the air of her own freedom. She realized that she was free now, she was finally freed from the devil's grip. However, she still wondered how long this fairytale would last, nothing happy lasted in her life, so she was used to it since she could think clearly.

She still felt that he'd come for her even though she was now far away from him, she still felt this continuous anxiety following the back of her mind at all times, reminding that she actually had to run away from her problems, which made her feel like a scared coward.

However, this time it was different. She wasn't only fighting for herself, she was fighting for the little child inside her, even though her mind screamed at her for deciding to keep the baby, she decided to listen to her heart this time, even though she did not know if it was right or wrong.

As the sun went down, replacing its captivating light into the beautiful darkness of the night, Layla decided to walk back go Alejandro's mansion, anxiety mostly following her along with Alejandro's men watching her, which soothed her a tiny bit.

She started to wonder what her parents and siblings were doing right now, they probably were enjoying their time being rich with Dimitri's money—the money they had earned when they had sold her to the devil himself, the one who had killed her mentally and destroyed her soul, making her realize that she was a dead human living in this cruel world.

She had changed into some comfortable clothes soon after she came back to the mansion, she was now currently standing in the practice room, where she could practice her fighting and shooting skills. A gun was placed in her hands as she aimed it towards the mannequin a few feet away from her, a loud roar of the gun echoed through the gun as she shot the mannequin right between its eyes, imagining Dimitri and her parents instead of the mannequin, a smile of satisfaction was plastered on her lips as she shot a few more mannequins real fast, which made her feel satisfied and sick at the same time.

Her fifteen-year old mind would scream at her right now, it would scream at her for being such a disobedient bad daughter, it would try everything to make her parents proud, but she tried living up to certain expectations even though they killed her soul slowly as she did.

"Hey, princesa." Alejandro greeted her with a smile playing on his lips, but still could not get her out of her intoxicating thoughts, so he wrapped his arms around her waist gently. Oh how he loved the feeling of her, her special sweet scent, the way she thought about things. He did not even realize that he began to adore her so much, but he knew these feelings would not fade away anytime soon.

Suddenly, alarm clocks started to ring loudly inside Layla's head as anxiety took over her whole body, making her freeze for a moment. However, she did not waste a second to react, she gripped his shoulders and slammed him against the wall, even though he was much taller than her, she held him against the wall hard, her mind not recognizing him as flashbacks fogged her clear thinking.

"Woah, you've got a hard grip." Alejandro groaned in slight pain, Layla's eyes widened for a brief moment before she masked it immediately, all though she could not hold back her tears. As she lost the fight against her tears, she let one slip down her eye as she looked into his eyes deeply, "Don't ever do that again." She said coldly as she let go of him, turning around, she ran away to her room, leaving him staring at her trace, confused why she had reacted that way, he blinked as realization hit him like a bus. Something real bad must have happened to her to get her to react this way.

Layla closed the door behind her before she leaned her back on it, taking in a deep breath, she let all of the tears run down, the tears seemed like an endless river as she cried, sniffling quietly, her memories started to haunt her once again, pulling her more into the darkness.

However, she had to be strong. Even if she can't be strong for herself, she had to be strong for the child inside her, she had to go to the doctors appointment tomorrow after all, but she did not know what lie she was going to tell Alejandro. Her heart ached as she thought about lying to him, the weight of guilt was almost unbearable in her heart even of the thought about lying to him—the only person who had tried everything to help her.

She let herself fall onto the soft surface of the bed, wiping away her tears, she got lost in her thoughts again. She felt like an emotional wreck, so vulnerable, hurt, anxious and sad. Why did she have to feel again? She was used to be numb, why are her feelings more heightened now? It all felt like she had reached a new route of her toxic darkness, but this time, it felt more intense, real intense.

She took in deep breaths, breathing in through the nose and out through her mouth. The thing she had always done when her emotions were hitting her hard at the same time, too difficult to endure them all at once, she felt the weight being taken down as she closed her eyes, concentrating on her even breaths, she let the thoughts go, enjoying her void mind for a moment before it got filled up again.

Pushing her pride away, she stood up, walking towards the door, she gripped the doorknob. Pausing for a moment, she began to overthink her decision about apologizing to him. She sucked in a deep breath, finally turning the doorknob, she opened the door before she could start overthinking again.

Alejandro stood right in front of her, his eyes wide in shock as hers, his impression then turned to awkwardness as his cheeks slightly changed color, which Layla started to adore, he had never done that. Alejandro Gonzalez—the head of the Spanish mafia—was blushing. How cute, she thought.

"I—I." They both stuttered at the same time, which made them both chuckle, an awkward silence filled the air for a minute, both of them were waiting for each other to break the silence, "I am really sorry for crossing the line today, I should not have done that." Alejandro apologized with a regretful look on his face, which made her heart flutter and ache at the same time. She really wanted to tell him why she did that, but she did not have the courage, she felt embarrassed, she felt guilty about what happened to her, she felt like it was her fault.

"No, it's fine. I have crossed the line, I am sorry for slamming you against the wall real hard." She replied, Alejandro smiled, "Well, I must say that you can hit like a dude, you could knock out a guy with a punch like damn." He laughed as Layla laughed along with him, adoring that he always found a way to make her laugh even in the worst situations.

"It looked like you weren't looking at me, it was like you were in a trance. Do you mind if I ask why?" He asked, Layla's heart dropped as anxiety took over her. She knew someone would start asking questions sooner or later, she felt the heavy guilt of lying to him rise more, because she would have to make up a lie now. "No it wasn't a trance, I don't like being touched like that." She replied emotionlessly, already feeling the guilt rising inside her.

"Well, it is really late. You should get some rest, it is going to be a busy day tomorrow." He said, "Good night, princesa." He added sweetly. "Good night." She fake-smiled. This was something she became real good at as fate brought nothing but fate to her.

She closed the door as Alejandro left, letting her fall down on the cloudy surface of the bed, she looked at the ceiling with a blank expression as tears ran down her face, feeling her emotions explode inside her as this once question wandered through her mind repeatedly,

Was she going to enter a new route of darkness?

•••••••••••••••••••

I am eagerly waiting for the thoughts on this one.