Lilith

I walked in through the old, worn down, ebony door, blinking away the shine from the blinding yellow light. I had to follow the woman who brought me here in almost complete darkness and my eyes were in no way ready for this. I was standing in a small room filled to the brim with smoke. I stared at an enormous Italian painting put up on the wall. My eyes glossed over the painting as I took it in. It had been placed in a weird way, or maybe one of the supports was broken because it was hanging lower on one side than the other. 

"Are you coming in?" I heard a man ask, pulling me out of my trance, and my attention immediately snapped to him. Robert White, first captain of the Arms Dealing department. A man I shouldn't mess with, and the man on who this operation currently depended.

"Y-yes," I said, closing the door behind me and slowly making my way closer to the large wooden desk that looked like it was built into the floor in the middle of the room.

The large man looked down at me, crossing his arms over his chest. The pictures I was shown didn't depict just how robust this man was, and I was confident I wouldn't last a minute in a brawl with him. His short, dark hair was slicked back, with a single strand falling over his face. The mammoth-sized scar on his face ranged from ear to ear, crossing just over the nose. It looked like his face was opened in two and then very messily stitched back together. His life in the military must not have been a fun one. Robert popped a large cigar into his mouth. He advanced towards me and started circling me, like a shark getting ready to attack its helpless prey. 

"You've been causing trouble in the street, Lilith, 'specially in my streets." 

The smoke from his cigar surrounded me further until I was covered in a dark grey mist, assured that the scent was also sticking to me. I felt his gaze on my face, making me gulp silently. I couldn't help but feel self-conscious about my freckled, pale skin.

I let my eyes hover in front of me, staring at the old grandfather clock propped up against the back wall. The mahogany construction had been making slow ticking noises ever since I walked into the office. The gold face of the clock showing the time. 5:44. The large hand steadily moved as each second passed, feeling long and dragged out. Robert finally broke the circle, after what felt like a lifetime, even though I knew it had been only thirty-seven seconds. He walked away from me and sat down on the desk.

"And you think I will just recruit every nobody that beats up my junkies?" He smirked, keeping his dark eyes locked on mine. I made sure I was standing up straight, returning the same challenging gaze. I couldn't back down from this fight. "You tell me why you should be a part of the Armanis," He said, the smirk starting to piss me off. The FBI had prepared me for what could happen at this interview, but I couldn't help but be a bit stressed. Also couldn't deny I hated the fact that this was the first person I was interacting with. The woman that brought me here didn't say a word for the whole journey, only gestured for me to follow. One false move and I was sure to leave this room as a corpse. It wasn't a secret that the Armanis are a ruthless bunch.

"I'm here now, aren't I?" I smiled up at him.

A moment later I noticed his hand reaching behind him, making my heart skip a beat. I worked on instinct, immediately pulling the gun that was hiding in my back pocket and pressing it against the man's temple. My movement was fast as lightning, courtesy to the years of training I've had. I managed to keep an expression devoid of any emotion, even though I was truly fucking terrified. I knew there were only two routes from here. I either landed a new job or dug myself, and this mission, a deep, deep grave.

Robert didn't seem fazed at all by my sudden ambush, although he did somehow crack a smile. 

"Go ahead," he said in a deep, gruff voice. 

The calm in it made a shiver run up my spine. How was it that he was the one being held at gunpoint, yet I was the one sweating about it? Before I realised what was happening, the gun exchanged hands and he pushed me against the wall, my cheek grazing the old wallpaper. I felt my gun pointing at my neck, and I stopped breathing for a while. I didn't dare move a muscle, although, I couldn't even if I wanted to. The tension had immobilized me completely.

"Okay," he said, his face closer than I had expected. 

"You had your cute little moment, you are either very stupid or very brave." He shuffled even closer to me, blowing the smoke from his cigar against my neck, making me gasp. I bit down on my lip, convinced I made a grave mistake. "I am not a gambling man, but it's been a while since someone was fast enough to point a gun at me," Robert added before he stepped away, letting me go in the process. He walked back to his desk. 

He was about to say something when the door opened and a tall blonde man walked through it. He had a weird grin on his face as he looked at the two of us as if amused by what he was seeing. His face was perfectly sculpted, with many deep lines defining his features. He had a long, pointed nose with a perfect jawline chiseled into both sides of his face. His skin was almost as pale as mine, although I had to admit it looked much better on him. His hair stood up in spikes and adding everything together, he was quite the handsome man.

Robert's jaw clenched, but his voice didn't have the same venom in it. 

"To what do I owe this pleasure, Donquixote?" He asked as he sat back down on the desk. "Oh, nothing at all" The blonde man came closer to the center of the room. He was wearing a very bright-in your face pink suit, with some very shiny black shoes. The sight felt almost ridiculous. 

"I just heard you were taking an interview and I couldn't help but be amused, are you guys a legit company now? What's next? Business meetings?" 

The blonde man laughed, and Robert didn't look happy. Even a blind man could tell he didn't like the weird blonde fellow, but he remained quiet for some strange reason. I tilted my head to the side, curious about this interaction. I knew I had to follow up on this, I didn't remember this man from the briefings. I snapped out of my thoughts when the man started talking again, and I realised he was looking at me. 

"Don't feel intimidated by Armani's you little brat. They are actually very kind and soft" He chuckled before making his exit, shutting the door behind him.

"What are you waiting for?" Robert's voice boomed through the room, making me jump. "You can leave now. My men will show you around and give you a brief about what you got to do. You are an Armani now, act like one." I snapped to attention and nodded, then turned and hurriedly left the room. I couldn't disguise the relief I felt anymore. I slammed the door behind me and started walking down the dark corridor. 

Robert White was a dangerous man who I needed to make sure I trod carefully around. Leaking military information to criminals and living to see another day wasn't something a bitch of a man would do. I stood with my back against the wall until I saw two different men walking towards me. That day already felt like it was going to be an agonizingly long day. 

This was how my, Lilith Tumbler's, life as a member of the Armani gang began.