Layla tossed and turned around the bed as whimpers escaped her lips, she was coated in sweat as another nightmare trapped her inside, pulling her more into the deep-end.
Her mother and father stood in front of her, yelling at her disgusting words as Dimitri stood in the corner of her room, smiling in a twisted way as he was pointing a gun against the head of her youngest brother Noah. She completely ignored the words of their parents, which were stabbing her in her heart painfully, she screamed until her voice died down, she tried to move, but unfortunately, she was unable to move a single muscle in her body.
Her face turned to her left due to the collision with her father's hand, leaving a mark of his palm on her cheek as they both looked at her with disgusted looks, Layla cried as she drowned in their hatred. They both laughed at Layla's face as she screamed at them, yelling questions, which were always left unanswered.
She cried from anger and confusion, trying to run to Dimitri, but she was unable to move, she could not do anything but stare at the horrible situation in front of her. She watched him pull the trigger as Noah cried, looking up to her as he begged her to come and save him, which made Layla cry even more as she yelled into nothing. Dimitri looked her way, smirking at her, "This happens when you betray me." He said, bringing his attention back to the shuddering Noah as he let his gun roar.
BANG!
Layla's back shot up as a scream escaped her lips, she looked up, realizing that it was another nightmare again. She always had this nightmare since she had received a punishment from Dimitri for the first time, he was sure to carve in every single detail of it for the rest of her life, he made sure of that.
Letting her head rest against her knees, she started to tremble as sweat covered her. Her shallow breaths filled the dark room, moonlight shining through the window which lit up the room a little bit, she looked around, fighting the urge to breakdown once again. She tried to concentrate on her breathing, breathing through mouth and out of the nose.
However, she wasn't successful this time, her breaths were shallow and uneven, which matched her mind as it was trapped inside the nightmare she just had. She let her hand go through her curly hair, untangling it slightly.
Suddenly, the door barged open, making her flinch, "What happened, amore?" She heard Alejandro's voice, which calmed her slightly, she was scared that it was Dimitri for a moment. She did not move nor look up to him, she only felt the other side of the bed dip because of Alejandro's weight, she heard him shuffling closer to her, which made her flinch away instinctively.
They sat there in the beautiful moonlight, it was a full moon, so it was lightening up the room more. Her breathing evened slightly, but she still did not look up, trembling slightly in fear of her dream being real. Alejandro's fingers went down her chin, making her look at him, noticing the tears and fear in her eyes, a look of hurt washed over his face, he was hurting for her.
"It was just a bad, bad dream. It is over now, amore. (Love)" He said, wiping away her tears that managed their way out of her eyes, he kissed her forehead, looking deeply into her eyes as if he was searching for any clue about what had happened, he sighed in a deep breath. "Do you mind to tell me what happened in you dream? Did it have to do something with your past?" He asked.
This question caused her to shift away from him, the air starting to suffocate her lungs more, she tried to keep an emotionless face as she tried to answer, "I don't want to talk about it, please, just... just leave me alone Alejandro." She answered, her voice cracking slightly. "I am okay, it is nothing. I'll just go back to sleep now."
"No. No, you clearly are not okay Layla." Alejandro objected, furrowing his eyebrows as he looked into her eyes deeply in search of any emotion, but there was nothing. A blank look was replaced with the beautiful shine of her eyes once again. Layla sighed in a deep breath, "Look, I will just go back to sleep, I only have three hours of sleep left anyway, so good night." She said coldly, pulling the covers over her head as she turned away from him. "I understand, good night. I am sure you'll tell me whenever you're ready." He said, his voice having a heartbreaking sound in it, which turned on the guilt switch inside Layla.
A few tears escaped her eye as she heard the door closing behind him, I can't ever tell this to anyone, she thought as she cried herself to sleep once again.
•••••
She covered her deep dark eye bags once again, covering her deepest pain for the day once again, she excited her room. Telling herself to f*ck it all today, erasing her darkness of thoughts today as she prepared Alejandro's breakfast and important files, starting her first day as his personal assistant.
"Good morning Mr Gonzalez." She greeted him professionally, avoiding what happened that night, he looked at her with a confused look for a moment. "You can still call me Alejandro, we're alone after all Layla." He took a bite of his sandwich, she inhaled a deep breath before she replied, "Alright, then."
"You got everything settled?" He asked, sipping his coffee, "Yes, I got everything ready once I found out that I would be working here for now."
"Good, very good."
He gripped his chin in thought, watching Layla's confused expression, "I was just wondering how you can pretend so amazingly that everything is okay when it is clearly not." He said, hitting her deeply with his words. It was true. She was breaking inside, however, she was amazing at pretending that everything was perfectly fine. "I am just fine." She replied, her face down as she took his finished plate and mug, putting them inside the dishwasher.
"Whatever it is that you're going through, just keep in mind that everything will be okay one day." He said with a sigh, making Layla sigh in frustration as she let a hand go through her black curls. She turned around, an expression of confusion and fury mixed on her face, "Why the heck do you care? Don't care about me, I don't need any sympathy or pity! I will leave anyway, I will get the f*ck out of here so no one has to worry about dying because of my shitty self!" She exclaimed, letting her fist fly on the table with a loud thud as she let him get a glimpse of the anger she is coping inside on a daily basis.
"What if I don't want you to f*cking go?!" Alejandro yelled, punching the table hard which made Layla flinch, but she masked it immediately. "You have to hate me! We'll only be professional co-workers as long as I am here, and nothing else, Alejandro."
"F*ck!" He yelled, making her flinch, he stood up and walked away, snarling. "I'll be in the office!" He yelled as he slammed the door behind him loudly, tears started to form in her eyes as anger took over her, hating herself more as guilt and anger became a terrible mixture to endure. She slammed her fist against the table again, in hope that the pain takes away her emotions, but unfortunately, it did not happen.
F*ck this all Layla, brush these feelings away for a few hours, just put on a mask and you'll be fine. She told herself as she professionally walked out of the house, entering the car Alejandro had sent, the driver drove off to the office.
••••••
Her heels clicked on the marble floor as she went over to her own office, which was next to Alejandro's office and it was a room built in his, so she had to enter his room first to get to her room. She knocked on the doorknob, hearing his voice approving her to come in, she stood still for a moment, inhaling and exhaling deeply before she turned the doorknob and stepped inside, closing the door behind her.
She stopped in front of his desk, his intense stares becoming too much for her as the guilt rose to a whole another level, "I am sorry for yelling at you." Alejandro's apology took her off guard as she looked at him dumbfounded for a minute, "I am sorry as well, I am sorry for putting you and Liza in danger. Now, if you'll excuse me Mr Gonzalez, I need to do some work before your meeting with Dante and Luciano Romano." Alejandro gripped his pen tightly in his hand as Layla's words cut right through him like a knife, his knuckles turning white as he clenched his jaw.
"You're excused." He replied emotionlessly as he watched her go to her office, closing his eyes tightly, he realized that he was coming closer to pretending that she'd always be here, but she was going to leave like every single one of his family had done. He hated being attached to her and he was loving it at the same time, there was just something about her that was pulling him more to her. He looked through the large window that separated both of their rooms, she was biting her lip in concentration as she typed something on the computer and skimming over some files at the same time. He caught himself admiring every single one of her actions, but he was so curious about what had happened to her in the past, he only knew that Dimitri was torturing her into doing things for him, making her a Russian assassin, even though she wasn't Russian.
His heart ached as different scenarios entered his mind, what if Dimitri raped her? What if he tortured her with beating every single inch of her body until her death was knocking at the door? How the hell did he even get a woman like Layla? Where are her parents?
If only he knew what had happened to her...
••••••••
Alejandro and Layla stood inside the elevator, waiting until they got to their floor awkwardly. The awkward tension could be felt so intensely that Layla just wanted to get out of there as soon as possible, Alejandro had never felt this awkward his entire life, they were both shy about speaking to each other after their apologies, because things were still awkward between them after their session of anger. Alejandro sighed in a deep breath as they reached the final floor, the doors finally opening, they both exited the elevator and made their way towards the meeting room.
"Be really careful Layla, these people can be really dangerous. Just be professional and yourself and then I am sure that everything's gonna be fine." Alejandro warned her, she nodded, feeling more nervous than ever as she sucked in a deep breath as Alejandro entered the room.
She trailed behind him, seeing two really gorgeous men sitting there as they waited for them. Just as she looked at them, she recognized one of the men immediately, she could recognize these green grayish eyes anywhere, it was Dante Romano, the man Dimitri was doing business with.
A wave of fear passed through her when he recognized her as well, a look of shock lasting on his face for a second before masking it. Both of the men stood up as Alejandro and Layla reached them, Layla watched Dante and Alejandro shake hands as they both smiled, his gaze lingering on her for a moment. "It is amazing to have you here, man." Alejandro said as Dante's smile grew. "And who is this?" Dante asked, making Layla realize that he pretended as if he didn't knew her, so she thought she'd rather pretend too.
"This is my personal assistant Layla Aslan, Layla this is Dante Romano, the Italian mafia boss." Alejandro introduced her to them, the other man's gaze was only lingering on her, which caused her the urge to squirm uncomfortably under his gaze. "A pleasure to meet you, Mr Romano." Layla smiled as they shook hands, "Likewise, Layla."
She caught the other man staring at her again, she examined his looks and damn he was handsome. His tanned body was dressed in a black suit, but it still showed how muscular he really was, his brown hair was amazingly combed, but a strand of hair was almost falling down his forehead which looked more handsome, a light stubble could be seen on his beautiful face, he had a jawline that could cut you into pieces and beautiful hazel eyes. He looked so devilishly handsome and like an angel at the same time, everything about him screamed danger to her, but she was loving his dangerous aura with his manly scent.
Hold on, what was happening to her?
"A pleasure to meet you, tesoro." The man took her hand and placed a soft kiss on her knuckles, which left her skin on fire as explosions flowed inside her stomach. Even though all of these sensations had her feeling on edge, she still kept a small smile on her face, masking every single emotion she was feeling right now.
"It is nice to meet you as well, um, Mr—"
"Oh how rude of me, I apologize for not introducing myself sooner, tesoro. I am Luciano Romano. The infamous gun trafficker of America."
••••••••••••
Damn, Luciano is hot. Like really hot.