The Game of Lies

Prologue

Aviva sat on her bed contemplating if she should continue watching number twenty-one of her husband's ever-increasing collection of pornographic material, -Not that he knew she placed a camera in their room after she realized pieces of her Giovanni jewelry set were missing.- a new day, a new girl, mentally she reminded herself to have the maids replace the sheets and sanitize the entire room before she returned to the house. After all, she had to sleep in that same room, he might not have wanted her but his wife was to sleep by his side. - A stupid rule, if she ever heard one, after all his fraternizing-

Turning off her computer, she closed her eyes taking a deep breath in. It was just a business deal and it happened to ruin her life and all her aspirations for love. Curse the many books that lined her library shelves, painting her imagination of married life and the prospect of the arrangement turning into some sort of twisted dark love, to be sorely disappointed when her husband chose a common whore over her.

So this was what it felt like to be a trophy, won for all to see and left on display to remind everyone of his greatest accomplishment, collecting dust on the shelf, while admiring all the new conquest. If she knew this little fact earlier, showing equal love to all her trophies would have been a top priority as a kid, never forgetting and always polishing, oh how they must be lonely.

Sometimes she wondered why her first thought when she heard of her engagement was not pack up and run, change her identity and start her new life with her savings. Maybe some part of her knew that her father would find her after all he ran a ghost Mafia, heard but never seen. She would need a miracle to pull off that stunt, so she chose the easy way out, making her father proud and honoring her family name. The marriage though had its fair share of consequences, a rift was caused between her mother and father, even though she married her distant yet still cousin she wasn't allowed to visit unless it was official. The life of a mafia wife.

It was nearly Three and he wanted to speak to her today, a first of many never to come she hoped. Packing up her stuff she exited the hotel room she frequented when her home -Not that she would call it that- was over-run with prostitutes of the finest pedigree. Walking down the hall to his office, hoping the secretary was not fucking him again. -walking in on that sight once was enough- Sadly he never fired the poor girl and she could never look into Aviva's eyes again after she figured out they were married.

"Marie," she greeted causing her pupils to dilate and her hands to shake.

"Ms.Whitfield," her voice pitched awkwardly 

"Is Sean in today? He asked to meet me" Aviva straightforwardly stating why she even came to this biohazard of an office, no small talk was necessary.

"Yes, M.M...Ma'am" she stuttered "Mr. Carte has been expecting you."