The atmosphere was tense, and it was justly so. All breaths hitched, waiting for me to say something - anything - to their slip up. I smiled, but it was far from a happy one.

    “Do we know what I do with useless people?” I glanced around the room, twirling my dark hair menacingly around my finger in one hand and a dagger in the other. Under my lashes, I could see the strongest men in America shift in their feet, cold sweat coming out profusely.

    “How on Earth did we lose the ONE shipment I told you guys not to lose? Is keeping your eyes on a tiny box barely the size of a toddler that challenging?” I rolled my eyes and reached towards the strap on my leg, the holder of a rose gold revolver. Panicking, the five men in charge of the shipment dropped to their knees.

“Please, no!”

“It was a genuine mistake!”

“We’ll do anything. Just don’t shoot, please.”

    It truly was a funny scene. Grown men begging and sobbing on the ground for their lives in front of a teenage girl with a gun. Oh, and did I mention? This teenage girl also runs the largest underground network, known as the most deadly and secretive scene of them all. The teenage girl being…yours truly.

    Suddenly, a knock on the door snapped everyone’s attention away. “Boss, there’s someone outside who’s requesting to see you. He said he has something you want.” I lift my legs gracefully off the table they laid on, my heels scratching the wood. “And who might this someone be?” The heavy metal door opens and two men step in. They were both dressed similarly, but that’s just about where their similarities ended. The first man seemed skittish and uneasy. The second man, on the other hand, had a confidence as attractive as himself. His hair was messy yet stylish, his facial features screaming handsome, and his bulging muscles trying to break free from the tight suit he was wearing.

    I yawned but kept my eyes locked onto the newcomers. “Well, boys. This might just be the luckiest day of your life. Everyone is dismissed.” The men who were previously on their knees quickly got up and scrambled out of the room with the crowd, everyone evidently breathing a sigh of relief.

    “Your visit better be worth it. As you can probably tell, my anger hasn’t quite subsided yet,” I glare at the pair, making the skittish man squirm around even more.

    “Allow me to introduce myself first. I’m Landon. Landon Westwood.” He grinned when my eyes lit up in response. The Westwood family was a notorious crime family who has managed to stay anonymous for generations. If a Westwood member shows their face, something was definitely up. “And this guy right here is a little rat I caught tampering with your stuff.” He shoved the man who looked like he was about to pee his pants right there and then towards me.

    He continued, “I might have overheard your tiny lecture earlier before entering, and it appears you have lost something of value. That something might be in the possession of this rodent.”

    My eyes narrow in annoyance. “So you’re telling me, this guy is the reason my men were about to be killed by me? Un-f*cking-believable. You, start talking.” I pointed my dagger at the man, who now looked close to tears.

    “It was an honest mistake! I didn’t know it belonged to you. Those men in charge of the package were taunting me and pushing me around so I thought I’d teach them a lesson.” He was now in the same position as the men from earlier. Crying like a sinner begging for mercy. How ironic.

    “By stealing from me?! Who are you to try and teach my men a lesson?” Furious, I threw the dagger, and it landed exactly a millimeter next to his right thigh. “Brandon, take this man away and make sure he learns his lesson about why he should never mess with the Rose Syndicate.” My right-hand man, a burly guy whose face was neutral and all business, entered the room flanked with two other men.

    As the man was dragged away with fruitless protests, my eyes gazed back towards Landon. “What’s in it for you? There’s no way in hell, someone like you would lend a helping hand to others without a purpose.” He bends down and picks up the dagger I threw, brushing off the debris. He walked closer and closer to me until he was most definitely infiltrating my personal bubble, his face being less than five inches away from mine. Lifting my hand and pulling it to wrap around the dagger in place of his, he whispered.

    “That’s a secret for now, butterfly.” And he walked away.

A few hours later.

“So, how’s the lobster to your liking?” The man in front of me gives me a sheepish grin and nods down at the untouched dish in front of me. His attention was clearly not on the lobster given that he would notice I had not taken a single bite, but whatever. That just meant everything’s going according to plan. As expected.

“It’s magnificent, Henry,” I smile back at him, although deep down I was cringing at his efforts. Could these guys be any more unoriginal. It’s always the same ‘bring her to a fancy restaurant, run those pockets dry like a cash cow, get her drunk, take her home, then score her in bed’. Every. Single. Time.

“If you don’t mind, I ordered you a glass of their finest wine to wash it down.” He smiles yet again, and I swear I vomited a little in my mouth. Wow, what a gentleman. Already onto the third step.

“Why, thank you. I-” Just then, a pair of strong, callused hands grabs onto both of my shoulders, lifting me out of my seat. I snap my head around to glare at the intruder.

“Excuse me! Who do you think you are, grabbing my date like that?” Henry stands up to shout at the guy, but he paid no attention.

“What do you think you’re doing, Landon?” I hissed under my breath.

“Saving a damsel in distress.” He whispers back.

“I’m not in distress and I don’t need your help,” I say, trying to pry his meaty hands off of my shoulders. He bats my hands off of his and lifts me up and into his arms, walking away from a shocked Henry.

“Thanks for keeping her company, man, but I’ll take it from here,” Landon said, without even turning his head back around. I punch his chest, trying to shove my way out of his hold. Once we were out of the restaurant with everyone’s eyes on us, I bit his chest as a final attempt. And it semi-worked.

“Yo, what the hell?” He glared at me, rubbing his chest with an arm, giving me the perfect chance to squirm my way out. Until he picked me right back up and threw me over his shoulders.

“Landon! Are you kidding me?” I kick and punch him effortlessly. This man was seriously a walking stone fortress.

Apparently we got to his car because the next thing I know, I was thrown into the passenger seat and the door shut behind me. He walked around to the driver’s side and go in, his stare unavoidable as his green eyes continued glaring at me.

“I should be asking you the same question. What the f*ck were you doing with that guy?” he demands, leaning into me. His anger rolls off of him in waves, but he wasn’t the only angry one here.

I roll my eyes and glare right back, steaming. “I was in the middle of dealing business with a client. What are you, my dad?”

“By flirting with him and letting him work his way through you!?”

“Why the hell not. I’ve always been doing that, and you’ve never stopped me, and you won’t. Now let me out of the car, so I can finish what I started.” I push on the car handle, but the bastard had already locked it.

“You will not go back to him.”

And with those seven words being said, he crushed his lips into mine with a sweeping force. I keep my lips shut tight, but his tongue fought to pry them open, and he succeeded. He kissed me, and it was nothing like I ever felt before. I’ve kissed my share of men before, but this particular guy made even the angriest of kisses feel like I was floating through the night sky.