==+==+==+==
The next morning, Stella rolled over to the other side of her bed and a bright red light was staring right at her.
5:42.
Throwing on a hoodie and a pair of sweatpants, she walked downstairs with a pair of slides on her feet. Once she reached the floor that was no longer carpet, in the air of silence, you could hear the sound of her walking ever so faintly.
She grabbed a cup and filled it with some ice water so that she could wake herself up a bit more, a maid had walked in.
"Good morning. Would you like me to prepare you anything specific?" The maid had asked.
"No, it's fine. Thank you," Stella responded as she walked out sipping on her water.
She had to buy a dress. Even though most of her things had already been delivered the night before, she wasn't going to show up with a dress she had already worn. Her presence alone made a statement, but she wants to make every person's jaw drop, she wants to make the guests speechless.
After she had changed her clothes, she walked down to the gym. As she entered, the first thing she saw after looking up, was five men shirtless working out.
Classic.
Putting down her water bottle, "Good morning."
Zane dropped his weights from being startled by a female voice. Only then did they realize she was in the room.
"Uh, good morning?" She announced again, but this time it came out as more of a question.
Ryder turned down the music, "We didn't expect you to be up this early. Are you going to work out?"
Ryder felt the need to ask that question because last time he was working out, Hailey ordered him to move somewhere else as she wanted to take a couple of pictures. She had the physique, but sometimes, she just wasted people's time and space. It annoyed him so much that he no longer wanted to stay in that room, so he left midway through his workout.
"Yeah, I am. Sorry for disturbing your workout, just go back to what you were doing before."
Everyone went back to what they were doing originally.
As the hours passed by, one by one left the room until the only person left in the gym was Stella. She often had long routines she followed and it usually had a two-hour run outside. She wasn't extremely familiar with the place, so she had to resort to the treadmill, and she extended the time because she was running on flat ground and not hills.
People passed by the room, and all they could see was a figure walking to one place or running.
"She's still in there?" Luca questioned as he walked into the living room for a cup of coffee.
Elijah nodded in response. "How many hours has it been?"
Arlo looked at his watch, "Like nearly four hours. What the fuck do you even do for four hours?"
"I don't know, but whatever she's doing, it's working," Zane concluded.
Ryder shoved a couple pieces of fruits in his mouth, "Seriously, I haven't seen a woman that toned in a while. Especially a girl that grew up being a princess."
"Ah," Luca put a finger up, "Her life as a princess wasn't 'easy.' She should've grown up with parents and siblings, but she didn't have that, and some of you guys know how that feels."
Zane didn't grow up with his biological parents, but for a moment in his life, he knew exactly how Stella felt. Growing up, he had always wondered why his birth parents didn't want him. And when these thoughts would surface into his thoughts, sometimes he'd feel glad because if they hadn't left him, he would've never met the people he now calls his family.
Sometimes, they forgot Stella wasn't what people usually said about her. They forgot that just because she had the title of a princess doesn't mean that her life was how it should be.
Stella walked into the room with them all silent.
They could see the sweat that was dripping down from the side of her face, and the shorter hairs that had fallen out were wet.
"Everything good?" She asked as she filled up her bottle with more water.
They all answered with a nod or a hum that sounded like a yes.
"Elijah, could you drive me to a mall, so I could get a dress for tonight?"
"Okay, that's good with me."
"Great, let me take a shower and then we can go. Luca, I'll take the offer for the house tour when I come back." She said as she walked out of the kitchen.
Ryder tapped Elijah on the shoulder. "Doesn't she seem, I don't know, brighter? Should I be worried?"
"Her mood seems good. A good mood equals good for us, bad mood equals bad for us. Simple equation."
Arlo shrugged his shoulders, "She looks the same to me, dark in the soul and rude."
"Get over it. She shot you once," Luca said as he patted the back of Arlo's back.
++++++++++
Shopping for dresses was easy for Stella since she would only wear one shade, black. It was never the sparkly black dresses, instead, they were usually plain or something close to a silk dress. What gave her the sparkle and shine was her jewelry. Never once had she left for an event without a large, diamond necklace and a bracelet that was paired up.
Buying clothes was easy overall, if she liked something, she'd buy it without a second thought. That was the perk of having money, of being rich.
It didn't take long for the bags to start piling up. They went from store to store, not spending more than thirty minutes in each. Elijah would give his opinions from time to time, but he couldn't tell if Stella wanted it or not. She would just keep it in her hand, so he assumed she listened and either took in his opinion or simply didn't care.
"Are we going now?" Elijah asked once he noticed they were approaching the exit.
Tying her hair up into a ponytail, "Yes."
As they drove back, her stomach growled.
"Sorry, I haven't eaten today."
She had been up since six and it was now one in the afternoon. The last time she ate was almost twenty hours ago. He wanted to scold her for not grabbing something on the way out even if it was small, but he didn't because he was afraid he'd be out of line.
"No worries. We'll get something on the way back."
Leaning her head against her hand, "That'd be great."
The hours after went by in a blink of an eye, and now Stella was getting ready for the party. She had a peek at the invitation list and there were well over a hundred people. All of them were affiliated with the Mob. They were either in the Mob, an alliance, people who had 'retired.'
After she applied her makeup, she slipped on her black dress and her stilettos.
Before heading down, she sat on her bed staring into a picture frame that had a photo of her brother.
Picking up, she kissed it and hugged it against her chest, and whispered, "I hope you're doing well and prospering. I hope you are living a peaceful life that you never got here. And if Calla can hear me, I hope she is doing well too, and if she can't, I hope you can relay the message. I love you and I miss you so much."
The rest were downstairs. All of them were ready minutes ago. Some just fiddled with their tie to past time while a few checked if their gun was functioning as it should be.
As Luca was cleaning his gun with his handkerchief, he could see her walking down. It would've been a lie if he had told someone his heart didn't skip a beat. He knew she was beautiful, but somehow in a short amount of time, she got even prettier.
Zane elbowed Luca before heading out with the rest of the guys. "She's pretty."
"I know."
He was a bit taken back. He didn't expect Luca to agree with him because not once did Luca ever call someone pretty.
His eyes trailed to the slip of her dress. "Stella, your whole vagina is out."
She let out a laugh. It was so small, but heartwarming. "It's not, but okay."
"Go change."
"I'm not going to change. I look good in this dress and the slip goes up the SIDE of my thigh, not the middle of my body."
"The dress practically shows your whole-"
Stella interrupted his sentence, "We're already late and I will NOT change out of this dress because guess what? Your opinion you just gave me is irrelevant, so hurry up out the door," pushing his back, "And I really don't want your mom to scold us."
She couldn't see it, but he was smiling because she had always been so tense. It didn't matter what she was doing, she always had this tone that stuck to her voice, but as he heard her speak tonight, it wasn't there. The underlying tone was gone, but he knew, it would soon come back.
Exiting the car, she took a quick glance at her phone. They were forty minutes late which meant more attention would be on them.
Luca could see her looking at her phone, he grabbed it and slipped it into his pocket.
"Hey! Give me back my phon-"
Offering his arm, "Ready?"
Linking her arm with his, he gave her a small smile and she gave him a kiss on his cheek as the doors opened. This was a show because who would believe that a Mobster who was known for his ways could be tied down by a person, and the fact that this person was not just an ordinary girl.
A waiter passed them a glass of wine just moments before Luca's parents could approach them.
Stella was going to shake their hands but was surprised when Mr. Madden and Mrs. Madden hugged her.
Pulling away, "How are you Mr. and Mrs. Madden?"
"Oh please, call me Becca and your father-in-law, Ace. But to answer your question, we are doing splendidly. Are the guys treating you well? I don't have to teach my sons a lesson, do I?"
Stella's heart fluttered a bit. Becca was somewhat like Althaia. They took care of boys and treated them like family.
"They are treating me just fine, Luca as well. Arlo might still be a slight bit sour about the other night, but other than that, everything is going as it should be."
Ace let out a laugh, "Ah that boy. Luca told me about it. He's still isn't over it, huh?"
Shaking her head, "Nope, and I don't think he will be, considering the scar I gave him. I think the scar on his cheek is reminding him every day."
"Oh dear, you're doing well," Becca said as she held Stella's hand.
She was a bit confused, "How so?"
Giving a small squeeze, "This is exactly what they need, Stella. They need someone to put them in their place and you did it from day one."
The ladies who were part of the Mob watched their interaction. They had fantasized about marrying Luca, about being in Stella's spot. They wanted to be the ones to speak so openly with Mr. and Mrs. Madden. They had fantasized about being the one to stand beside him. They envied her. They envied her looks, her wealth, her intelligence, and now, they envy that she is able to rule with someone they could only wish of having.
A person could look at her from the top to the bottom and they could see her neckline was covered in a shiny, diamond necklace, while diamonds with a mix of a dark purple gem, that looked almost black, hang from her ears. Her wrists were covered with a signal, dainty silver bracelet, one that she had been wearing for years. Her fingers were covered with several silver rings, some with a jewel that was worth more than someone's life. And as you looked down, you could see a faint outline of a gun and a knife.
It was hard for a person to not notice, to not acknowledge her because she could light up a room the same way she could bring darkness. She, herself was a force to be reckoned with, but now with Luca standing beside her, people in the room wondered what more can she do?
+++++++++
The next couple of weeks passed by faster than they thought it would.
Stella had sneaked out almost every night and she would come back with a scratch or two, she would never be wearing the clothes she snuck out with, and Elijah's car would be parked exactly how it was.
Her flight back to New York was in two days and she hadn't spoken to Luca about it, but that's because it didn't matter what his answer was. Whether he allows her or not, she was still going to go. She got up and went to grab her suitcase, and started throwing the first pieces of clothing that appealed to her eyes.
She stopped zipping her bag as she heard a knock on the door.
"Yes?" She yelled from across the room.
"Can I come in?"
"Sure."
Luca was confused once he opened the door to see Stella was packing her bags. "Why are you packing?"
"Right. I have a flight on Friday to New York for a week or two."
He frowned, "That's two days from now. Why was I not informed?"
"That's because I forgot about it, and I forgot to tell you."
Grabbing a chair, he sat down and said, "This is something big."
"Sorry. A lot has been going on and I just never had the chance to speak to you about it," replying as she looked at her shoe rack.
"What time is your flight?"
"Six A.M."
"Okay, I'll get to packing."
Her head snapped towards his voice, "You're going with me?"
"Why wouldn't I? My wife is going to see her family, shouldn't I pay my respect and see them too?"
Running her hands through her hair, "Don't you have work to do here?"
"I can always delay it. Do you not want me to go?"
"It's not that I don't want you to go, I just-" She couldn't figure out a sentence to say because how was she supposed to tell him.
"Okay, then I'm going," he responded as he left the room.
If it had been any other time, Stella would've gladly agreed, but not this time. She couldn't let him see how much of a wreck she would be in. The closer the date is, the closer she is to breaking. She was going to lose herself and she knew it. She was going to lock herself in her room for hours and the only time she would leave is to go to the graveyard. She wasn't going to speak to anyone and she was going to drown in alcohol and cigarettes.
Zipping the last section of her suitcase, she is just hoping that maybe this year will turn out different and the nightmares won't resurface. Maybe this year, she wouldn't have to suffer so much.
==+==+==+==