The sun shines brightly through the large window as Serena wakes from her slumber, quite disoriented at the sight of a canopy above her until she realizes where she's at. She lifts her head from the comfy pillow and rises from the bed, running her fingers through her honey-blonde hair, and frowns once she looks down to see herself still wearing her designer clothing.
She looks around the room and takes a notice to a note slipped under her door. She moves from the bed and walks over, soon picking up the piece of paper that had somewhat manageable penmanship to read.
Serena,
Hope you slept well last night. There should be a change of clothes and toiletries outside your door waiting for you. Take the elevator that's down the main hall once you're all ready. I'll be waiting for you in the dining room.
— Ash
Unconsciously, Serena bites her lip with a smile creeping up on her face at that. She slowly opens the door to find a large basket filled with an assortment of clothes, toothbrush along with toothpaste, body wash, and a comb. After she was done gapping at the contents, she closes the door.
Although her own clothes were nice as a fashion designer, the clothes in front of her seemed much more expensive looking. She walks over to the bathroom connected to the room, flicking on the lights as she was presented to a wide vanity and marble countertops. Without hesitation, she does what she needs to do.
Walking out the bathroom with a towel wrapped around her body, she sorts through the clothing. She looks through the basket and settles on an outfit that fits her perfectly. She turns to the mirror and her satisfied smile completes it all.
She chooses a thin, black turtle with a blue pendant dangling from her neck. The shirt tucks into a pair of high waisted jeans, a thin belt with a plated buckle through the loops. She poses, back to the mirror and turns her head, black ankle boots that match with the leather jacket on her shoulders to finish the outfit off.
If Ash was supposedly the one who got everything for her, especially the clothes. Serena would be even more surprised at the man. Though, she had her doubts.
She makes her way out the room and walks down the hall, still taking in how big the place really is. She thinks back to the note, remembering to take the elevator, and strides into it. She's able to admire her reflection on the glassy walls for a few seconds until she hears a ding for her designated floor.
Upon getting to the main floor, the elevator doors open as she wanders around, following a certain scent of breakfast in the air along with coffee. She arrives in the banquet hall, the table in the center stretching in lengths of blackwood, decorated in fine porcelain plates and gold cutlery.
At the head of the table sits Ash, who was questionably staring intensely at the clock on the wall as the line took its time around. He was wearing a black button down neatly cuffed and pressed with the top two buttons undone, sleeves rolled up to the elbow. His black hair seemed to look like bedhead, but he still managed to pull it off like a handsome man. At her arrival, he turns his head and lets his eyes stop on her, his piercing gaze running up and down her figure which makes Serena slightly embarrassed.
Although, she shouldn't be because she looks stunning, but somehow Ash thinking the same makes her heart skip more beats than it shouldn't. She believes she needs to get that checked out immediately.
"Good morning, Ash," she greets, walking towards him. It isn't clear what the leader thinks, but the way his mouth goes agape gives her an idea. "So you were waiting for me."
"Morning," he replies with a smile, letting his hand fall to his lap. "Yeah, of course I was waiting on you. You look great, Serena."
"You don't look too bad yourself," she says, a teasing tone heard within the remark.
He chuckles, a grin growing on his features. "I'm glad you wore the pendant I got. It reminded me of your eyes. It's very beautiful."
Leave it to Ash to say things with weight he surely has to be aware of. She decides to not make it embarrassingly obvious how much she adores the compliment. Instead of a blush warming her cheeks, she gets closer to him, letting her fingers go through his hair. She takes great pleasure in the fact Ash watches her every move.
"Someone had to be excited to see me if he decided to go out like this," Serena jokes, attempting to fix his hair.
Ash pouts playfully and she can't help but find it adorable. "C'mon, give me a break. It doesn't cooperate sometimes," he explains and smoothly lets his hand fall to her waist to pull her closer, letting their eyes meet. "But maybe I did just want to see you that badly."
One glimpse of her ignites his eyes and the heat of his gaze has her in a trance, melting certain parts of her body. It causes her to want to feel him and walk through flames just to feel his warmth. She adjusts her hands in his hair, neither of them realizing when they started to lean in while her lips parted. It was to the point of being able to feel the other breathing as their faces got closer to each other's.
Suddenly, Serena realizes their position and gasps, pushing herself away from him regardless of the pool of desire in her system. She looks at Ash staring at her and it seems like he couldn't believe what had happened either.
"I'm so sorry. We shouldn't have-" she begins, but he interrupts her.
"It's fine, Serena. Don't worry about that," he says sincerely and she thinks it's untruthful, seeing there's something hiding behind his eyes. "Sawyer will come around in a moment with breakfast and he'll take you to get your things."
Serena has a question on her lips, but gets cut off by the sound of metal hissing by. In the blink of an eye, there's a sharp dagger that Ash has caught between his pointer and middle finger just inches in front of his face. Serena whirls around from the source and she hears Ash sigh, but the sight shocks her.
It's a woman, blue short haired one to be exact, wearing a blue fitted dress with a slit up its thigh to shown off the holster of a gun strapped to her leg.
"Miette, did it not occur to you that it's early in the morning?" Ash deadpans as he then begins to twirl the blade between his calloused fingers, the sharp edge gleaming in his deft hands.
"Oh, it most certainly has. Although, I was worried you gotten soft, cuzzo," Miette comments back almost boredly before changing into an airily taunt above a pool of temptation. "First Dawn, now her? I'd say you have a knack for playing hero if I didn't know any better."
With a flick of a wrist, Ash sends the dagger flying back while Miette catches it easily as if they were playing catch with a baseball.
"And you have a knack for getting on my nerves daily, especially with that cousin nickname," Ash resorts, rolling his eyes. Despite not actually being cousins, the two have gotten close to being like a pair of one. "Since you've decided to come bother me once more, are you and Sawyer ready?"
"Get over it already. We're like cousins and it sounds nice." Miette snorts a laugh. "Also I don't remember signing up to become some babysitter."
That gives the green light for Serena to scoff, folding her arms across her chest. "Is the baby in the room with us right now because I honestly don't need you to take care of me."
"Oh, please, it would take less than five minutes tops for Giovanni's snakes to swallow you if you came across them," Miette challenges with a smug smile.
"Been there, done that. All slither and no bite. Those boys need a lot more training by the looks of it," Serena snaps back. "And since we're on the subject, I bet I could take you in less than one."
Serena holds her hand on the sleeve of her jacket, practically wanting to push them up just in case. Fighting against a mafia boss' close-enough-to-be cousin is a stretch, but a fistfight is a fistfight. Miette stares back unimpressed and doesn't take the bait. If anything, her smirk twists into something more troublesome.
"Shouldn't you go design some outfits for me somewhere or something?"
Serena rolls her eyes. "Go figure that you have zero taste."
From her side, Serena hears laughter and the tension breaks. The two opposing women break their glares and turn towards Ash, Miette looking a bit startled by the purity of it. The sound of his laugh plays on Serena's heart in a piano riff, resonating in a tone that crescendos and sinks to his fingertips. Ash's smile is wide and it pairs with the morning sun through the windows. Surprisingly, Serena's previous anger dissipates into the clouds above.
Ash's laugh soon dies down as he regards the both of them with an amused smile. "Sounds like a new challenge for you, Miette. If I can recall, I don't think anyone has talked to you like that before."
"As if! What could a new comer normie do to threaten me?" She questions, making Serena feel like making some rash decisions and taking action within seconds. Why did she have to end up with her out of everyone?
Ash rises from his seat, reading her feelings, and closes the distance between him and Serena. He gently moves a strand of honey-blonde hair from her face and smiles harmlessly at her.
"I'm sorry, beautiful. I have business to take care of," he apologizes lightly, the call of the endearing term makes Serena's heart twist in its cage for no logical reason.
She thinks it's pathetic how there's a hold Ash already has on her and they've only know each other for a damn near a day at most. She doesn't know whether or not that said hold is a curse or a blessing. What she does know is Ash has treated her kindly since she arrived. It should count as something, in spite of the life he leads.
"I know you're strong, Serena, so Miette will be there as backup if you need any protection. As much of an ass she can be is, she's the best shot around," Ash explains and Serena can hear Miette grumble as she strides for the front entrance to meet Sawyer outside.
"Gods, Ash, has anyone ever said your practically-cousin isn't quite as nice as you?" Serena voices out once Miette is out of earshot.
Ash tucks his hands into his dress pants and shrugs. "Miette and I aren't so different I'd say. It's a bit too early for you to tell such things, don't you think?"
It's another mysterious question that makes Serena wonder what he's trying to imply. Is it that she should be afraid? Or is it that Ash shouldn't be trusted? She can't tell. Ash seems to want her to come to her own conclusions and it confuses the former fashion designer even more.
Sighing, she then speaks honestly. "Well, if you hadn't been, I'd most likely be dead." She lets her arms fall behind her back and looks at him shyly. "So, you know, I'm truly grateful for what you've given me. I'm excited to see what more of this world of yours is all about."
She sees his jaw loosen from his tense state and his eyes are shown in a slight form of shock. He doesn't voice that though and instead they soften as he grins once more. "You're really something, Serena."
She winks at the gang leader playfully. "I know."
Ash couldn't reply to that and just watched her wave off to follow Miette who also must've irritated Serena again because he could hear her curse loudly even as the door closed. He smiles and carries it as he crosses the manor to a dimly lit room, where he had unfinished business left to attend.
A single lamp dangles from the ceiling and reflects off the dark metal walls. The door closes behind him with a hollow clang. He readjusts his cuffs to his elbows again, a pure classic silver watch on his wrist. Ash extends a hand to the guard standing at the door and he silently hands him a sleek pistol.
In the center of the room, a man whimpers against his ropes twisted around his torso and over his mouth, effectively gagged. His chest rises and falls in panicked breaths as hair continues to get matted in sweat against his forehead. He only sees half of Ash's face when he looks up, the shadow over his eyes and the sharp smile lingering on his lips as he kicks the chair from underneath him. The man shouts as his body hits the ground hard, though his pain is muffled.
"Must be a new one in these streets?"
Ash crouches down, resting the side of the barrel of the gun against his temple as he continues to grin. The safety clicks and his brown eyes glow in flickers of ember. The gun lifts his chin up, digging into his throat. He tilts his head with a sort of blank expression that's almost too empty, too unfeeling, the clutches of insanity skimming on his teeth that are bared in a predatory hunt for blood.
"It's a damn shame for you to end up in the wrong neighborhood."