VALENTINA

"You get on my nerves. You're so fuckin' annoying, you could poison poison. You're the worst person on Earth."

. . .

"Just getting some fresh a-air," I reply, narrowing my eyes at him. He's still not over his precious Aston Martin, so he surely followed me because he's up to no good.

"Seemed quite in a rush," he states.

"Spying me now, are you?" I ask, and he clenches his jaw.

"Your every move does not go unnoticed by me."

"I feel so honored," I say, sarcasm dripping from my tone. It gets quiet between us. His eyes never waver from mine, and it feels like he's staring deep into my soul.

I ignore the fact that I don't seem to mind his gaze as much as I did Ford's, who looked into my eyes with such intensity that it made me squirm.

But it's like my body welcomes Alessandro's intensity.

And I dislike it.

So, to distract myself from the feelings coursing through my body, I decide to taunt him.

"How's your car?" I smirk, and I revel in the clench of his jaw and the narrowing of his eyes.

He stalks towards me, and I can barely process his hand wrapping itself around my throat until it's happened already.

His fingers feel threatening wrapped around me, and he slightly squeezes as he glares into my eyes.

And for some reason, heat courses through my body and causes goosebumps to appear on my skin. I feel like I'm on fire, all because he's touching me.

Must be the hatred I feel for him.

"My car is splendid," he answers, a sinister look in his eyes as he leans down. His lips brush against the shell of my ear, and I have to suppress a shudder.

"But don't worry, crybaby, I'll get you back for it."

His words linger in the air, whispered against my skin and I hate my body's reaction to it. To him.

He leans back – though, only a bit – so he can look at me.

"Give me your worst," I grit out, challenging him with my eyes.

He smiles, the sight of it catching me off-guard because his smile is... devastating.

Different from Dante, because when he smiles, it's gentle and warm.

But Alessandro's smile is such a rare sight and so... detached. Cold.

"I will," he promises, his fingers tightening their grip on my throat for a split second before he lets go and takes a step back.

As soon as his touch is gone, a shiver runs up my spine and coldness wraps itself around me.

Only a few inches separate us, and neither of us moves away. Our eyes are locked and heavy breaths escape us, becoming visible in the cold air.

I don't know how much time passes; if it's minutes or hours, but at some point, he takes a step back and straightens up.

He flexes his hands by his side, drawing my attention to them.

And I let myself observe them, the way I never let myself in the past, and notice the bruises covering his hands and knuckles.

I had noticed them before but didn't give them much thought. But now, I do wonder where those bruises come from.

They appeared nearly a year ago, and Dante has made some remarks about them here and there but I didn't let myself dwell on it too much.

"You'll see me around," he says, schooling his features and having that same passive look in his gaze.

I don't grant him a reply, and watch him disappear through the doors. Only when he's gone and out of my sight, do I let out the breath I've been holding in and find support against the railing.

"What the fuck," I breathe out, and am glad I'm out in the cold to help my burning skin.

It's been a while since I've had such a strong reaction toward him, and it's fucking me up.

And all I'm able to think and wonder is; what the fuck did I just get myself into?

I go back inside as well, still a bit rattled, and don't feel in the mood to socialize and endure painful conversations my mom and sister are a part of.

So, to avoid everyone, I head to the restroom instead but halt in my steps when I see Alessandro headed toward the exit of the building.

The rational part of me is urging me to stay here and not follow, to not go and see what he's up to.

But another part of me, that wants to leave desperately, is pushing me closer and closer to the exit and before I know it, I'm standing outside and watching Alessandro walk toward his bike. He takes off his suit jacket and changes it for his usual leather one, before mounting his bike.

There are two things I can do; which is go back inside and pretend I didn't just see him leave while brimming with curiosity. Or I can follow him and see what he's up to.

The decision is quickly made when the longing to follow him takes over. I walk over to our car and check my purse, seeing the keys there which my mom handed over to me.

Slipping in, I close the door and start the engine, trying to be as discreet as I can while following Alessandro.

He races down the streets, and I'm trying to keep up as best as I can without looking too suspicious. 

After ten minutes of trying not to get noticed, Alessandro turns into a street way out of the area where we live, somewhere I've never visited and don't feel familiar with.

He pulls over at the side of the street and takes his helmet off, raking his fingers through his curls. I park the car a little down the street, out of sight, and yet I still try to hide behind the steering wheel as I watch him.

I scan the street and notice a few people are lingering near a door, where what looks like to be a bouncer standing outside.

They show him something on their phones, and the bouncer nods before letting them in.

The place doesn't look like a club, and more like a rundown building where shady business could take place.

I squint my eyes, trying to see a name or something that indicates what this place is, but don't see anything.

My eyes are pulled back to Alessandro as he puts his helmet away and starts to walk down the street.

My lips part in surprise as I watch him greeting the bouncer from earlier before slipping inside and disappearing.

What the hell is this place and what is he doing here?

Knowing that it's a dumb idea, I get out of the car and head towards the door, where the buff man is standing outside.

I've got to know what the fuck Alessandro is doing here because it looks dangerous and shady.

Not like I'm concerned. I'm just curious to know what his ass is up to.

When I near the bouncer and offer him a smile, all he does is glare down at me until I cower away.

His eyes go over my attire, and I realize that I'm not exactly dressed to be in this part of town.

How stupid must I look, dressed in a gown and heels; showing up to a place I don't even know.

The bouncer doesn't question my clothes, though.

"Invitation?" he barks, and I jump at his voice.

"I-invitation?" I echo, dumbly.

"Yes, or else you don't get entrance to The Underworld. Now, show me the invitation."

"I don't have one," I admit meekly. "Where can I get it?"

The man narrows his eyes and widens his stance, making me take a step backward.

"How do you know of this place, hm?" he asks, crossing his arms in front of him.

"A-a friend," I quickly sputter. "I apologize, next time I'll have an invitation," I squeak out, too scared to stay here any longer, and then I scurry back to my car and get it. The first thing I do is lock all the doors and then speed off.

"What the fuck," I breathe, my heart beating wildly in my chest.

The Underworld.

That's where Alessandro is spending his time. And I have no idea what goes on in there.

The bouncer from outside also didn't look like he was in the mood to explain what the place was, and I didn't want to make myself seem more suspicious.

I head back to the ball and park the car where it was, so Mom won't notice that I was gone. And as I walk back inside and pretend that I was in the restroom, my mind is with a certain curly-haired man and I wonder what he's up to.

I can still feel Alessandro's hand around my throat even days after the fact. I can't even properly concentrate at lunch and barely put in effort into getting to know a new girl who has joined us.

And his late-night activities have been occupying my mind, as well. As soon as I got home, I looked up what The Underworld was.

A boxing ring, for fucks sake.

Where people place bets and men box illegally for money.

That explains the bruising, and my stomach clenches together as I wonder how often he does it and hurts himself that way.

I have this urge to go over there again, to see for myself and observe Alessandro when he's in there, fighting.

But after what happened with the bouncer, I'm a bit too scared to go alone.

Normally, I'd ask Dante to go on these kinds of ventures with me. He's always down to do it, too.

But I don't think Alessandro would appreciate me dragging his twin to see him fighting. And maybe Alessandro needs to tell Dante on his own time, instead of being exposed like that.

So, I'll drag his sister with me, instead.

While Dante is talking to the new girl, Melanie, I lean over to Alyssa and try to get her attention.

"Psst, Alyssa," I whisper. She looks over and leans in as well. "I have a question," I add, and she grins.

"Shoot."

"There's this event I want to go to tonight. Dante can't join me because of homework. So... I was wondering if you'd like to accompany me?"

I figure a little white lie wouldn't hurt anyone, since she'll surely question why I don't ask Dante in the first place.

"Going by yourself is such a big problem?" she asks.

"A-alone? In public?"

I dislike the idea already, especially if it's by the boxing ring in a place I don't know.

"What is it?" she asks, not waiting for me to reply.

I bite my lip and play with my fingers, not knowing how to answer that question.

"I need you to say yes before I tell you."

She just stares at me in disbelief. "Valentina..."

"Okay, it's this underground thing and it's late at night so I'm just scared to go by myself," I admit.

"Is it legal?"

"I don't know?"

It surely doesn't look like it, and according to the information I found online, it's not a legit business.

But I don't tell her that.

Alyssa chuckles and shakes her head, making her curls move along with her. "Alright, sounds good. I'll go with you."

I can't stop the big grin from taking over my features.

"You're the best. I love you. We'll meet up at nine?"

"That's good by me."

I can't remove the grin on my face, because tonight, I'll finally get to see what the bane of my existence will be up to.

I'm at home, trying to wipe out the stain of coffee that has spilled onto my clothes. Courtesy to Katherine who just 'happened' to bump her purse into my cup while walking away.

She's such a bitch, ugh.

After five minutes of rubbing dish soap on the clothes – a trick my mother taught me – I put them in the washing machine and immediately get it started.

I wasn't the only victim of Katherine's cruelty, either. She embarrassed and humiliated Melanie today, as well.

She shares some classes with Zainab, who is Alyssa's best friend. Zai invited Mel to have lunch with us, and she's nice.

I could tell she was in awe of Dante, and I can't blame her. Dante happens to share a face with Alessandro, whom I used to be in love with, and he attracts a lot of attention.

My phone pings, getting me out of my train of thought. I see it's a message from Alyssa, saying that she's here.

I take my purse and check if I have everything I need, before meeting Alyssa downstairs.

"Thank you for coming with me," I grin and briefly hug her.

I'm too excited and curious for tonight, as I get to see what the fuck Alessandro is up to.

"Where are we going?" Alyssa asks when we're in my car. I start the engine and take off, contemplating on how to answer her question.

"It's this u-underground thing..." I tell her, trying not to give her too much information.

"Doesn't sound legal," she chuckles. "How did you stumble across this, anyway?"

"I just did," I shrug, leaving it vague. I don't know how she'll react if I tell her that her brother will be there.

And I've gotten this far into entering The Underworld.

When I was doing my research online, I found this sketchy website and took a risk, downloading two invitations for tonight's event.

"Who knew you had such a shady side to you?" Alyssa smirks as we get out of the car. The street is lined with crowded pubs, and down the street, I see the door where Alessandro disappeared through.

"I don't," I deny as we walk down the sidewalk. "I'm just... curious."

"Sure you are," she replies, and when we near the double doors, I don't see anyone guarding it tonight. Thinking tonight is my lucky night, I push the double doors open.

But my hope is quickly diminished when I see the same bouncer from last time standing inside, guarding another door.

When he sees me, he crosses his arms and raises a brow. It looks like he recognizes me because he has an expectant look in his eyes.

Not wanting him to bark out questions again, I quickly find the invitations on my phone and show it to him.

With a nod, he steps to the side and opens the door for us.

The first thing I see are stairs that are leading down, with red neon lights covering the walls and illuminating them in an eerie way.

This looks incredibly shady.

"Valentina, we better get out of this alive," Alyssa hisses at me as we descend the stairs.

Even though I wonder where the fuck we've landed, I try to play it cool and not make my inner panic obvious.

"Stop being dramatic, we will," I whisper.

There's noise coming from down the stairs, which gets louder and louder as we near.

When we get to the bottom of the stairs, I push a door open and am met with a room filled with people, and the noise of chatter intensifies ten times more.

Where the fuck are we?

And what is Alessandro doing in a place like this?

The place reeks of sweat and beer, and the floor feels sticky. There's a bar on the other side of the room and it's obvious people are getting wasted there.

There is another area with tables and suspicious white powder, which I steer clear of. Bets are being made and it's obvious there's a lot of illegal stuff going on here.

In the middle of the room, is a large boxing ring.

The lights here are dimmed, the only spotlights on the now empty ring in the middle of the room. There's a whole audience around the ring, and also a ray of seats you can access up the stairs, but all the seats are full.

"There's absolutely no way you took us here," Alyssa shouts from behind me as we start making our way through the crowd.

"C-come on, it's for fun," I shout over the noise and take her hand, to make sure we don't get separated from each other.

We get closer and closer to the ring until we get a good view of it.

Because of my short frame, I have to stand on my tiptoes to see something, but it's the best view we'll get.

"Didn't know violence interested you so much," Alyssa shouts at me. Her eyes go over the crowd, taking everything in. She doesn't seem scared or uncomfortable, so that's a good sign.

I keep quiet because I don't want to tell her I'm too desperate to know what Alessandro is up to.

Speaking of, I haven't seen him around yet. I'm curious where he disappears off to whenever he comes. I had assumed he was a fighter himself based on the bruises he always has, but maybe I was wrong and he's just a spectator.

But that doesn't seem like him at all.

My eyes go all over the place, to see if I can find him anywhere in the crowd.

"What the fuck are you doing here?" comes a very familiar voice from behind me. I whip around and see Alessandro standing near Alyssa, holding her arm.

When his eyes find me, they narrow into thin slits and I can feel the tension rolling off him. He must see the guilt on my features because he picks up on it.

"You brought her here, didn't you?" he asks. He couldn't be more obvious in his dislike toward me. And I don't know why it stings so much.

"So what if I did?" I ask, lifting my chin and crossing my arms. Alyssa looks between us, her features drawn into a frown.

"Alessandro, what are you doing here?" she asks, caught off guard by finding her brother here. He just ignores her and I can see the clench of his jaw.

He's just as surprised to find us here too, and he doesn't like it one bit. I can tell he feels exposed and wants to go hide.

"The question is what you are doing here, you shouldn't be here," he says, ripping his gaze away from me to look at his sister.

"We just came here for fun," she shrugs, trying to play it off. I'm relieved she doesn't let up that I dragged her here, and is covering for me.

I love her so much.

"For fun?" Alessandro gapes, in pure disbelief; "Being around the most dangerous people is fun? You have no idea where you are, with whom you're surrounding yourself with," he snaps.

His brows are furrowed together in concern and worry for his sister, and he looks agitated and on edge. "You need to leave."

"Why?" Alyssa asks. She's never liked being told what to do, anyway.

Somewhere in the background, I vaguely hear a ringing sound and someone announcing something. Probably a match that is about to begin, but I can't focus on anything else happening. Because my eyes are on Alessandro as he stalks toward me.

"Get out," he snarls, his hands landing on my arms and gripping me tightly.

I try to swat him away, but the motherfucker is too strong for me.

"It's not that big of a deal. Why a-are you here if it's so dangerous?" I ask, getting worked up as well in his presence.

"You know why," he says and raises a brow. "You followed me here, didn't you? So, you know what I'm up to here."

I clamp my mouth shut and look away, embarrassed that he figured out I stalked him.

He turns his attention back to Alyssa. "It's really not safe here," he urges and points to something up on a balcony in the room – or rather to someone.

A man in a suit is sitting there, surrounded by women and what looks like security men standing behind him. His black hair is slicked back and he's leaning back in his chair like he's a king, sipping his drink and looking over all of us like we're peasants.

His gaze is focused on the people in the ring, and he looks unbothered as blood is being spilled and punches are being thrown.

"You see that guy over there? That's Valerio Romero, the owner of this whole place. He's dangerous, Alyssa. And he keeps tabs on anyone who walks in here. So, I don't know how you got in," he says and focuses his deathly glare on me. "But you fucked up with that one."

I feel like a kid being scolded and suppress the heat from rising to my face.

"I used a fake name," I sigh. "I just wanted to..." See you in this environment.

Alessandro grabs Alyssa and starts to drag her out of here, with me right in tow.

He turns toward me and leans in. "Don't ever set foot in here again, crybaby. What I do here is none of your business, hear me?"

"I'll get to decide where I do or do not go," I snap back, annoyed at his presence and the vibes he gives off.

"How do you know so much of this place?" Alyssa asks as we're going up the stairs. "Why are you here? Tell me."

"Don't worry about me," he assures her. "I'm okay. Just don't come back here, you hear me?"

Alyssa rolls her eyes but nods nonetheless. She won't come here out of spite to annoy him and knows that if he denies her something, it's for good reason.

It's silent between us three as Alessandro walks us back to my car. At some point, I look over at him and see his eyes on me already.

He looks pissed off that I found out about this place, but there's nothing he can do about it now.

I should be happy I managed to get this reaction out of him; that I discovered his secret. But I'm... not.

"Stay away," he orders, and that's the last thing he says before he turns around and stomps away.

I let out a long breath and take a seat in the car, next to Alyssa.

"I'm sorry I dragged you over here," I apologize. "I just... wanted to go out and see for myself."

"Why?" she asks. "What did you want to see?"

Your brother.

In the ring, possibly.

To see what he's hiding from everyone.

And now I know. He comes here to fight. To get hurt. And I have no idea why he'd do that to himself.

But I don't tell her that. I don't want to cause her any extra concern.

So, I just shake my head and wave it away. "It doesn't matter. But I promise never to drag you here again."

I just can't say the same for myself.

. . .

I have so much in store for this book but all the ideas are such chaos in my head.

This chapter was kinda meh but it's fine, I'm building up to better chapters guys.

What do you guys think happened to Valentina's Dad and why he left?

Let me know your thoughts on this story, plssss <33

thank you for reading and I hope you enjoyed this chapter!!

I love you x