Power

Prologue

I had always convinced myself that there was no hope for humanity.

It wasn't until I met Tyga Serone that I truly believed it.

Tyga Serone was my boss – the owner of one of the largest clubs that London had to offer. From the moment that you stepped foot into the luxurious, red velvet and gold drenched night club you were spun away into a world of beautiful half-dressed women, drugs and loud music that pumped through your veins like blood.

He had found me on the streets of the Brixton council estate that I lived on with my family. Well, family is a funny way to put it. My real father passed away when I was a child. I remember most of my childhood my mother spent in bed, smoking and drinking herself to death. The cupboards would be empty, and myself and my 3 other siblings would sit around in the squat-like flat – cold, hungry and abandoned. We didn't attend school, our bellies were always aching from hunger, and our skin would be caked in dirt. I remember the eldest, Maria, shaking our mother and screaming at her to sort herself out but she never did. Until she met Dave. Dave seemed great at first. He woke Mum up from the never-ending nightmare that she didn't seem to be able to escape. She became a normal mum – cooking meals, cleaning the flat daily, even laying vases of flowers around the place. Dave slowly but surely won her heart, and all our trust. He moved in permanently and did a good job of replacing our real father. As we started to get older, he changed. Dave became violent, aggressive and drank constantly. He stopped working and money became tight again. Mum seemed to shrink inside herself, and again our future was clouded.

By this time, I was 18 years old. Maria, our eldest, had moved away with a partner and rarely contacted us. I had two younger siblings, a 16-year-old brother named Spence and a 12-year-old brother named James. Spence had just started to work on the local construction site, so he made sure that James ate. I looked after them both on the bad days when Mum would not even speak to us. I decided that I could not do it anymore. I did not have any idea where I was going – but I was going. I left the flat one night, with nothing more than my handbag stuffed with my things. I was scared – it was dark and cold, and Brixton was an unforgiving place to live. The novelty of adventure started to wear off as I reached the end of the estate. The rain poured down, I was cold and clueless as to where I was going.

I sunk to the floor in despair, tucking my legs up to my chest and sobbing. Suddenly, the idea of being free didn't seem so great.

That was when I heard the slow buzz of a vehicle driving towards me. I looked up, and as I wiped the rain out of my eyes, I saw a large black Range Rover creeping towards me. The heavily tinted windows indicated that the driver was hiding something, and the hum of the engine reminded me of a large panther. The car rolled to a halt in front of me, and the electric window wound down. My heart raced, and I wasn't so sure that I was shivering because of the cold anymore.

"Do you need some help?" A mixed-race young man, no older than 25, poked his head out of the car. The streetlight flashed across him, and I could see the tattoos which lined his neck and jawline. His hair was cut short, and the diamond earring in his ear glittered at me. The smell of marijuana was potent.

"I – I..." Realizing that I must look like such a fool, I quickly got to my feet and tried to compose myself. "I'm fine, thanks."

The man raised his eyebrow. I must have looked a right state – a scrawny little girl, drenched from the rain, wearing trousers with a hole in the knee, my hair plastered to my head. "You don't look fine. Where you off to? I can drop you there."

"Oh no – really, I'm fine. I don't need a lift. I'm only going to the shop, it's a 2-minute walk."

"Look. I insist," the man smiled, and I felt a shiver of warmth up my back. "I'll drop you. I've got nothing better to do anyway. What sort of gentleman would leave a young lady stranded out on the streets, especially in a place like this?"

Before I knew it, I was in the car. I was very conscious of the fact that my sodden bum was on his plush leather seats. I don't think I had ever been in a car as nice as this. Rap music hummed in the background, and the smell of marijuana was stronger than ever. I looked up to meet the man's interested gaze. He was wearing a tight fitted black t-shirt and jeans, and the muscles in his arms bulged.

"What's your name?" he asked.

"Lucy."

"Well, Lucy," he lit up a joint in his mouth and took a deep drag. "Didn't your mum tell you it's not safe for a pretty young girl to be walking round the streets at night?"

My throat tightened at the thought of my mother at home. I felt my fists clench, but before I could relax them, he had seen. "I'm only going to the shop."

"Look," he turned to face me. "I don't know you, but I'm also not an idiot. I know you aren't going to the shop, Lucy. Who goes to the shop at this time of night in the middle of a storm with a handbag full of clothes?"

I took a deep breath. There was something about his eyes which made me want to crack – made me want to tell him everything, made me want to sob in his arms. It was a long time before I managed to speak again.

"I'm not going to the shop. I'm not sure where I'm going, but I'm going somewhere. Things... things aren't going great at home, so a break will be good for all of us. I'm not abandoning them but... I just need to get away."

The man just nodded his head slowly. He took another drag and turned away from me.

"Lucy, you don't know me. I don't know you. You don't need to explain your situation to me. I don't need to explain mine to you. But I want to offer you something. I want to offer you some help. My name's Tyga, and I own a night club in Central. We're looking for some new faces, bar staff, promoting – that sort of thing. We've got a couple of girls on now, but we need a bigger team. You're more than welcome to join."

I was completely lost for words. But I agreed.

I have no idea why I agreed to letting this random man drive me away in the middle of the night, but I did. I had no where else to go, nothing to look forward to, nothing to live for. The idea of a fresh start was enough to persuade me. The thought of being in a different environment, with different people was enough.

I took one last look at my estate as the Range Rover sped off into the night.