Chapter A Party Interrupted
Third Person TV
Cara’s lilue eyes connect with a woman that stands behind her. The woman is dressed in an extravagant gown, one that makes Clara’s look cheap and poorly made. It’s a deep red color and it compliments her skin tone and
Behind her stands five men in all black suits. Their masks reveal parts of their face but underneath them, it is alarmingly clear that the five men are devilishly handsome
Stella’s hazel eyes stare at Clara from behind her mask with a look of distaste. By changing her return ball into a masquerade, she is able to keep her identity a secret from those who know her and from the people who don’t. She looks Clara up and down, shifting her weight to her back foot.
Clara’s face goes red, matching the shade of her ruby lipstick. She turns her gaze away, the champagne glass” tilting in her hand. She scans the nearby afea and notices Adrian standing to the side.
Fury and jealousy bubble inside of her chest. She sets her sights on Adrian, face scrunching up from annoyance. The woman takes a large step to the side but her heel gets caught on the skirt of her dress.
Clara gasps, het champagne glass tipping over. The golden alcohol flies across the air in slow motion. It lands on Larca, Stella’s second eldest and mafia enforcer brother.
All of the blood leaves Clara’s face. She brings the now empty champagne glass to her face. Luca looks at the damp stain on his shirt, turning his attention back to her.
His face is snarled, nostrils flared, huffing to himself. He towers over Clara, easily asserting dominance over the frail woman.
“You did that on purpose, didn’t you?” His tone is low and gravelly. Clara shakes her head no, unable to form a coherent sentence to refute his claim.
Adrian passes his glass to a person who stands next to him and immediately jumps into action. He closes the small distance and places himself between Clara and Luca. He looks up at the masked man and gently pushes Clara behind him, his hand remaining on her arm.
“It was an accident,” Adrian begins his excuse for Clara, “she didn’t purposefully spill her drink on you.
Clara buries her face into the back of Adrian’s shoulder. His fingers dig into Clara’s arm. Luca tilts his head to the side, knuckles cracking as his fists clench.
Stella glares at the couple. She can’t help but feel hatred towards them and their so–called love.
Luca’s eyes flick to Adrian. He focuses on his face, eyes narrowing from behind the mask. He recognizes the man as Stella’s husband,
You two look awfully close,” he begins, an underlying hint of fury hidden behind every word, “you two really make the perfect pair.”
One of the men from behind steps out of the formation. He’s taller and more slender than the other man, his face lacing any emotion.
“She’s not your wife,” Silas, the eldest son and assassin claims. He crosses his arms over his chest, looking down at Adrian. “We look down on men who are unfaithful to their families and bring their…playthings to social events for all to see.”
The room is instantly filled with whispers and murmurs. Their eyes attach themselves to Adrian and Clara. They
#Chapter & Party Internupted
hide their whispers behind their hands, their snickers barely audible,
Let them whisper, Stella thinks, let them understand how feels to be whispered about.
Adrian scowls and looks at Silas, sharpening his glare. Lucasteps to Silas‘ side and they cross their arms in unison. He glances back at Clara, who stares at the rest of the crowd.
“We do not have that kind of relationship,” Adrian says in threatening tone, “I wouldn’t cross that line if I were you.”
“You are the one who failed to control your little mistress, Luca’s words are like venom, burning into Adrian and Clara’s skin. “And yet, somehow, you are the ones acting like we’re unreasonable?”
Luca takes a step towards Adrian. Adrian immediately moves backward, pushing Clara with him. Luca’s muscles tense and relax in his arms, able to be seen from under his suit, a silent threat to Adrian.
“A man like you, one who betrays their own wife and family, would be severely punished in the underworld, Luca spits the words out. Stella internally wishes that she could unleash her resentment onto Adrian as well.
Clara steps out from behind Adrian. In an attempt to make things right, she reaches for Stella’s hands, desperately wanting to apologize for the mistake she has made.
Silas immediately acts, drawing his gun from the holster that hangs against his ribcage. Clara gasps, fear causing her body to shake uncontrollably. Adrian grabs her wrist and pulls her back behind him.
His green eyes shift between Silas and Stella, who he doesn’t recognize. He doesn’t stand as tall as he once does, his eyes showing a small amount of shock and fear from the encounter.
Tension overtakes Stella’s body, her mind suddenly screaming at her to step in and stop her brother.
Stella’s hand wraps around Sifas‘ wrist, yanking his hand back down. His hand gun remains firm in his grip, eyes shooting down at his younger sister. She shakes her head and beckons for him to lean his head down, a command that he immediately obeys.
“She’s my sister, Silas. I asked Adrian to take care of her,” Stella whispers into his ear.She didn’t want her brothers to get caught up in this.
Eyes from all around the room watch, tension hanging in the air. Silas slowly pulls away from Stella, his posture straightening. His eyes move between Stella and Clara before he nods, sliding his gun back inside the holster.
Adrian angles his body to face Stella. She barely looks at him and instead keeps her eyes on Silas so he does not do anything else.
“Thank you,” Adrian clears his throat. She still doesn’t look at him.
Stella doesn’t want his thank you. She wants Adrian to realize and feel how much pain and turmoil he has caused her by protecting a woman that’s been asleep for five years when she was right there.
She suppresses an eye roll and a scoff. She turns to her brothers and nods her head to the other side of the banquet hall. The six of them turn and exit, leaving the immediate area with deadly tension suspended in the air.
Adrian
As soon as the six masked people leave, I turn to Clara and bring her into my arms. She presses the side of her face into my chest. I refrain from holding the back of her head due to the prying gazes and eyes that look our way.
throat and 1 rub her back and force my face to return to a neutral expression to not alarm the room. I clear my Clara pulls away from me. She finally realizes that all eyes are on us once again and her body tenses. “She is a childhood friend of mine,” I announce to the room, making sure to make eye contact with as many
Chapter B–A Party Intemipte
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people as possible so they can feel a bit of shame and look away.
I notice that a couple people inside the room stare at Clara with a slightly different expression. Instead of it being of love and adiniration, they are now disconnected from Clara. The interaction has separated her from the social
group.
A few people nodded while others kept the dirty looks on their faces. Their sour expressions make him turn away, facing Clara. The music in the banquet hall begins once again, filling in the silence, and it gives me just enough cover to whisper to the blonde beside me.
“That woman’s voice…did it sound familiar?” I whisper algad. Clara turns her attention to me, shaking her head.
“No,” she quietly responds, “her eyes did look strikingly similar to Stella’s, though.”
My gaze
snaps to hers. My hold on her body tightens but my face remains calm and collected. I tilt my face and stare in the direction that the six people left in.
away
Suspicion tinges the back of my mind. The mafia princess has left me with more questions than answers tonight.
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