A/N: Hello everyone! So here's the new and improved version of LMA! Please review, comment, and question in the review section! Thank you for waiting until now :)

- drostste7

CHAPTER 1

I gathered the smoke in my mouth and exhaled it slowly. The smoke engulfed the scene before me. I honestly hated smoking these, even if they were just fakes, for the disguise. I waited for two more seconds. The 'F' of 'Fun Time', the most notorious strip club in town, flickered repeatedly in the night. The door opened, and a man wearing an expensive Armani suit exited. I flicked my cigarette onto the ground and put it out with my foot. I waited.

The man crossed the street, his hazy eyes pasted to the darkened, moon-less sky, a perverted grin on his face. He was handsome, and his pale complexion and slim, tall body just screamed 'I'm a moroi.' He glanced down and his eyes met mine. His grin stretched into a smirk, and began to walk confidently towards me. I stopped leaning against the alley wall, and properly stood up. With a seductive smile, I opened my coat slightly to show him my legs, encased in fishnets. His smile grew. His pace quickened.

I turned, knowing he would follow, and walked into the beckoning dark. When I reached a dead end, I turned around and gave my customer a smile.

"Well, hello there," he purred. "I haven't seen you around here before. What's your name?"

"Diana," I replied. "I'm new here."

His eyes gave me a once over, stopping right at my breasts. "But definitely not new in this business."

You've got that right. I merely smiled.

The man lifted his head to meet my eyes. "My car's just around the corner."

I shifted out of my coat. His eyes bulged. "Nah, I prefer finishing my work in the dark." He gulped, but not out of fear.

"Turn around," I ordered. He obeyed. I reached down and fingered my knife hilt, securely attached to my ankle by a leather belt.

"I'm usually not into the kinky stuff," he began, "but if it's a beauty like you, hell—" He stopped and made a strained, animal-like sound as he swayed and fell onto his knees. He managed to turn his head and give me a confused look, but he soon dropped dead, face down. My knife looked like it was a part of his body, a masterpiece that plunged his heart from behind. I reached down and pulled the knife out, grimacing as I did so. I put my jacket back on and slid the knife back into its scabbard, and reached for my phone, punching in the familiar numbers.

"It's me," I said. "The job's done."

I scaled the alley wall in five seconds tops, and waiting for me beyond the wall was Iri in a black Mercedes. I slid into the passenger seat, and we drove away, leaving the murder scene behind us.

"Cold night, huh?" I glanced sideways at Iri. His eyes stuck to the roads.

Iri, my boss's secretary and everything else, was undeniably hot. I flirted with him occasionally just for the sake of it—there was no way I would actually sleep with him—but he never responded to my attempts. Hell, it was a surprise if he even responded to my hello's and good morning's. His dark skin tone exposed his Middle Eastern origins, and his blue eyes stood as a hard contrast to his skin. They suddenly shifted to me, and I stared back, stunned. He looked back at the road.

"Relatively," was all he said.

I stared out the window, my mind in a daze, partly because Iri actually responded to me for the first time in two years and partly because my fingers still buzzed from the feeling of the hilt in my hands. Suddenly, the phrase they come first intrude my head. I wondered how Lissa was doing. I missed her. I strained my eyes as I felt the tears gathering. I wouldn't cry.

They come first.

Technically, Lissa had been the one to tell me to leave. I shouldn't have to feel guilty for leaving her. Lissa was the queen, for christ sake, and she was probably getting the best security team in the whole world. Even he might have been moved to her team. I didn't need to care about all the protecting shit anymore.

They come first.

I clenched my eyes shut. No, I was wrong. That statement still applied to me; The 'they' had just changed.

An hour later, I sat on the most lavish couch of Ruiero Angiolo's office. His eyebrows furrowed at my feet on the coffee table, but shifted his gaze to the black, oversized garbage bag beside me.

"That better be Richard and not some junkie off the street," Angiolo jerked his chin at the garbage back.

"Of course," I said, harsher than I intended. "I take my work seriously."

"I know," Angiolo smirked. "Reliable Diana Ludvok. Or, should I say, Rosemary Hathaway?" I grimaced, but kept my eyes locked with his. He stared back, but his eyes softened as he leaned against his over-sized, over-priced desk.

The man in front of me, Angiolo, was not the friendliest man—or Moroi—of the neighbourhood. He was a shark loan whose apparent day job was CEO of an insurance company. He had strong connections with the underground Italian mafia of Las Vegas, which was just four hours from here, Los Angeles, where his main headquarters was located. Angiolo always liked to emphasise how he didn't hesitate to use his connections for whatever he needed them for. Arrogant bastard.

Angiolo was the type who attracted women but didn't go after them; His looks were enough to make women work for his attention themselves. His auburn air was always trimmed nicely, and his dark, dangerous green eyes compelled you to look into them, only to leave you feeling naked and lost. He was older than me, that was for sure; He seemed to be around Zmey's age. Strangely, Angiolo reminded me a lot of Ibrahim, from his way of business to his speech pattern. Another pang of pain shot through my chest at remembering my father, but I pushed the emotion away.

I didn't like Angiolo's ways of doing things, but I respected him. He brought the useless me off the streets two years ago, gave me a new house, and helped me set my life straight. But, of course, in return for his 'gracious kindness', as he called it, he expected me to work my ass off for him.

"Did anyone see you?" Angiolo sat on the edge of his desk, and lit up a cigarette.

I faked a dramatic shocked look. "Angiolo, how could you even suspect—" He cut me off by raising his eyebrows and giving me a cold stare, raising the hair on my arms. "No one saw me. No cameras and no passer-byes, either."

Angiolo let out a puff of smoke, and kept his eyes on me. "I see. I'm sure it'll be fine if it's you."

When Angiolo looked at me as if he was expecting me to say more, I just shrugged nonchalantly. There was a time when I used to be curious-Rose, when I wanted to know everything about everyone, but that was before I learned that knowing certain things could put me and my babies in danger.

"Richard," Angiolo began bitterly, "borrowed one hundred and fifteen grand from me. He spent it all on hookers and prostitutes within a week. Son of a bitch didn't even think about the consequences."

My eyes involuntarily widened at the number. I could buy thirty or fifty—math was never my best subject—breakfast sets at Taco's Space with that. I cursed under my breath and muttered, "Should've stabbed him a couple more times."

Angiolo met my eyes again, and stared at me.

"What?" I snapped.

Angiolo's smile peeked past his fingers as he drew another cigarette puff. "You've changed a lot in the last few years."

My shoulders sagged at the thought, and I sighed, "Well, a lot of things happened in the last few years."

"Remember how you used to be so reluctant to kill moroi?" he chuckled. "That was so cute. You always stuck to the mantra of they come first and couldn't imagine the dhampirs being anything but your comrades. Look at you now, a perfected hunter and all. You even make jokes about killing them nowadays."

I stiffened, and slowly rose to my feet. "I'll be heading home now. The body really is that Richard Vi Dan guy, and you can check if you want. I'll expect the usual payment in my bank account by tomorrow."

Angiolo stood, an amused expression dancing across his face. "You always leave when we start to talk about how you've changed—"

"Becky's leaving soon, and I don't want to leave the twins alone for too long," I interrupted. "I'll report to you later tomorrow night. See you."

With that, I turned on my heels and quickly left for the parking lot. Behind me, I heard Angiolo chuckle, making me bubble inside with anger, but I tried to let it go. I always left his office feeling like biting his head off, but I knew Angiolo wouldn't go down without a fight. Plus, all the bodyguards—those cheating assholes— hiding in the walls would shoot me with those crazy fast machine guns. Even if I did manage to somehow magically kill one of the most dangerous men in L.A. and somehow crawl out of his office alive, I'd still be hunted down by his sworn brothers. I shivered and pushed the thought to the back of my mind. I had more important things to think about and more important things to do.

After driving my sweet Cadillac for fifteen minutes, I arrived home in Palos Verdes, LA. I stretched before the entrance door, and rang the doorbell. The door opened within seconds, and a bouncy, blonde teenage girl with a huge grin opened the door.

"Ms. Ludvok!" she grinned. "You're early! I thought you were coming at 12 a.m."

I checked my wrist watch: 11:45 p.m. I turned back to Becky. "Work didn't take as long as I thought it would."

Becky opened the door wider for me to enter. "The kids were really great tonight. Max did stay on the internet for longer than he promised, but other than that, they were perfectly quiet. Both finished their homework, ate dinner at 5, brushed their teeth, took a shower, and are sleeping in bed, just like you asked me to!"

I smiled as I hung my keys and my coat on a hanger near the entrance. "Thank you, Becky."

The blonde already had all her things packed, and she swung her backpack over her shoulder. "No problem, Ms. Ludvok! I'll be here tomorrow as usual! Bye!"

With that, Becky was gone. I let out a sigh, left my shoes in the cabinet, and trotted over to the kids' room. The room was dark except for the illuminated lamp on the kids' bedside table. As soon as I took a step into the room, Camilla and Max sat up. Max beamed as he saw me.

"Mama!" Max yelled, rushing out of bed to hug me. "You're back!"

Camilla, or Cam, as friends and family liked to call her, gracefully slipped out of her bed and walked towards me. She showed a brief, small smile before joining our family hug. I kissed the top of both their heads, inhaling their sweet baby smell.

"What are you kids doing," I muttered into their soft hair. "You should be sleeping right now."

"But we wanted to see you," Max pouted. "'Cause we want you to tuck us in, not Becky."

I sighed, and ushered them into their twin bed. I had tried to get them to sleep in different beds before, but both had ended up not being able to sleep properly, so I allowed them to use the same bed. God forbid I even try to separate them into different rooms. The two of them climbed onto the bed and hid beneath the covers. I smirked and tickled them until they pulled the covers from their heads laughing, their hair wild and tangled.

I took a second to look at the two, and, like every other day, was astonished by my angels. Camilla's features were similar to mine; Her dark brown hair curled around her face, morphing perfectly with her tan skin and dark eyes. But she was quiet and stealthy, always the one to watch both sides of the road before crossing. Max, on the other hand, looked more like him; His brown hair was still light, and I always made sure it was kept short. His chocolate brown eyes twinkled as the lamp light bounced off of them. He was a mischievous little brat who always got into trouble. It wasn't rare to find him trying to make a midnight attempt at the snack cabinet, which, because of him, was locked three times with locks from three different countries, all tied together by a bicycle chain. It was a pain to open in the mornings, but was definitely better than running out of snacks for a whole month.

"Okay, go to sleep now," I said softly. I pushed Camilla's curls out of her face. They both closed their eyes and clutched each others' hands. "Mommy will be in her room," I said, but the two were quiet. They were already asleep. Somehow, these brats managed to fall asleep within two seconds of holding each others' hands. It was a mystery as to how that happened.

I got up from their bed and headed to my room, closing the twins' door on the way. Once I was in my room, I quickly took off my black jacket and pants, and hurried off to the shower. Fifteen minutes later, feeling more refreshed than ever in warm PJ's, I took out a vintage Gallo 2000 red wine and a wine glass, and settled on the couch facing my window. I poured myself a drink and took a sip. The bitterness tingled in my mouth. I took a gulp, and another, and another. The bitterness tingled in my throat. My nose burned with heat. I looked up from my glass, and met my own eyes in my window reflection. For reasons unbeknownst to me, tears gathered and spilled down my face. Without warning, the memories came back.

It was a sunny day, and the sweat gathered at my back. With a tired grunt, I took off my shirt and walked with just my tank top. Any other time, I would've been happy with the looks I was getting from some of the guys, but since I officially got together with Dimitri, I only felt annoyance and disgust. A rich-loooking ass hat moroi man looked me up and down, and decided he liked what he saw because he kept doing it. I shot him a glare.

"Why don't you take a picture, asshole," I snapped. "It lasts longer."

The moroi held up his hands in defence, but his eyes didn't leave my ass. "Woah there, tiger. Just taking a look. Didn't know they charged for looking at walking art work."

I considered punching him, but decided the skinny ass wasn't worth it. I rolled my eyes at the pathetic pick up line, and walked away—just to bump into Dimitri. I looked up, startled. His face was stone hard, and his fists shook. I followed the direction his eyes were currently trying to glare holes into, and found him shooting eye-daggers at the moroi who had been making comments. I turned back laid a hand on Dimitri's chest.

"Comrade," I said softly. "Let's go."

Dimitri didn't stop glaring at the moroi, who just couldn't take the hint. "Walk, baby, walk!" the idiot yelled. "Let's see that shaking ass." Dimitri took a step towards him, but I pulled him back.

"He's not worth it," I warned. "Don't let Ozera lose more face than he already has by being a rowdy bodyguard." Dimitri glanced back at me, and his expresson softened. He merely nodded, and pushed us away from the moroi.

When we got home, we made crazy love.

I looked up at the ceiling, a sigh concealing the sob that escaped my lips. He had acted so strange that day. I should've known something bad would happen, but I didn't. I was an idiot for believing he would be with me. I had known—I had known since I was in high school—that he didn't think our relationship was right. I had known he may leave, but I believed, from the deepest part of whatever soul is left of me, that he would stay.

But he didn't.

The day has come, and I know you knew it would. Here we are, in a taboo relationship. Everyone knows about us, Rose. You deserve better than the looks that they give us. Vladmir was the start of this mistake. Everyone else was right. Can't stay here any more. Avenge yourself, but only in your dreams. Unite with your family, Rose. Get away from here. Happiness will be anywhere without me. Tame your soul. Meet someone else. Educate yourself of the world while you have the chance. Roza, I love you, and I always will. Unite with your family. Never look back.

D

I laughed bitterly at the memory, my face chilled by the cooling of my salty tears. I had found the note on the nightstand when I'd woken up the next day. He hadn't even bothered to write complete sentences near the end! And Unite with your family? What in the bloody fuck? I stared at my lap. Unite with Lissa is more like what he meant. Do my duty. I was caught in the system. Unite with them. They come first. I had to leave, though I hated doing what Dimitri was telling me to do. But I knew two things: my babies would never be able to live peacefully there, and staying at the court as a guardian would only take away my ability and freedom to make choices.

So I left.