A/N: I'm currently more inspired than I have been in a long time, hence me starting another story. My brain comes up with ideas and then won't leave me alone until I give in and write them

I've been wanting to write a mafia/mob inspired story for a long time, since I read The Sacrificial Lamb years ago. I've had a few ideas over the years, but none of them panned out, until this one. It's a loosely inspired by Romeo & Juliet. I love me a good retelling.

I hope you enjoy. I've never written anything quite like this and am excited to see where this goes.

Single Soon will still be on daily uploads, and Safe Haven will be getting weekly updates.

For this one, I'm thinking every other day, but will adjust as necessary if it becomes too much.

Happy reading!

1

Bella

"Isn't that dress a little short?" Emmett asks from the doorway.

I look at him in my vanity mirror as I continue putting on my lip gloss. He's leaning against the doorjamb, rubbing the back of his neck. He's still in his charcoal suit and white button down that he'd put on that morning.

"Seriously?" I ask, rubbing my lips together as I close the tube of gloss and place it back on my vanity. Emmett was my older brother. There were seven years between us, and he had a tendency to try to be a second father to me. It didn't matter that I was twenty-one years old and spent most of the year away at college, he still felt the need to be a helicopter. "It's not that short." The garment in question came to rest maybe an inch above my knee and was pretty conservative. The most scandalous part of the black dress was the back, where it dipped to my waist, showing off the skin of my back. "Rose is sure to wear something way more scandalous than this."

Rose was my best friend and my brother's girlfriend. She's a twenty-two-year-old blond bombshell with blue, almost violet eyes. She's hot and knows it, and dresses to accentuate her curves. What she usually wears makes this look especially tame.

"Where are you guys going again?" he asked as I grabbed the black sequined back, I was going to carry tonight.

"Crossroads."

Crossroads was a nightclub a few blocks from our high-rise apartment, a place that Rose and I went often, so I knew he'd believe me when I told him that was our plan for the evening. I only felt a little bad about lying to him. If I told him we were planning on going to Dirty Martini, a speakeasy inspired nightclub across town, he'd blow a gasket. I was forbidden to go to that side of town, because that was the Masen's territory.

"Hey, hey!" Rose seeps into the room then, cutting off any further integration from my brother, planting a kiss on his mouth. She's wearing a skintight silver dress that glitters in the light of my bedroom. I was right in my assumption that what she was going to wear tonight making my dress look tame. Her ensemble barely covers her ass, but she pulls it off with confidence. The heels she has on are sky-high black Jimmy Choo's. "You ready, girl?" she asked me, playing with the lapel of my brother's suit.

"Yeah." I put the strap of my bag over my head, following her out of my room.

When we make it to the living room, my dad is sitting in his favorite armchair that sits in from of the floor to ceiling windows of our penthouse, a cigar between his lips. He's reading the paper, looking so normal that you wouldn't believe that he was the head of a ruthless mob organization that was currently at war with the Masen family.

Things had been escalating for months now. It had all started when the Masen's claimed that the Swan's were responsible for the death of one of their higher-ups. The body of whom had been found on the bank of the Hudson River with a bullet in his brain. One of the Swan's calling cards had been found next to the body, but my dad said that we'd had nothing to do with it, and that it had been a set up. Which Carlisle, the head of the Masen's, hadn't believed. Since then, blood had been shed on both sides and there were no signs of it slowing down any time soon.

I tried to stay out of it. I didn't ask questions, choosing to stay as ignorant as possible.

"I'm off, Papa." I tell him, going over and giving him a kiss on the cheek.

He takes the cigar out of his mouth, gripping it between his fingers. "You're going with Rose? No one else?"

"Yes, Papa."

"And you're going to Crossroads?" He takes another pull of his cigar.

"Yes, Papa."

He takes a moment to let my answers sink in. "Maybe I should send Embry with you all, just in case." Embry was the head of Papa's security and was known for being ruthless, stopping at nothing to make sure we were kept safe.

"No." I answer a little too quickly, making his eyebrow lift. Shit, I'd aroused suspicion. I needed to tread lightly, or our plans for tonight weren't going to happen. "We're just going to be around the corner, Papa. If anything happens, we'll come right here."

He continues to look at me, and I think that I've fucked everything up, but then he says: "Fine. But don't stay out too late, and you have Rose's driver bring you right here, no exceptions."

I internally sigh in relief. "Thank you, Papa." I give him another kiss on the cheek. "I won't be too late."

Once we're on the elevator, Rose gives me a look. "Girl."

I sigh. "I know."

"You really think he believes we're going to Crossroads?"

I shift on my feet. My dad was so good at telling when people were lying, but he'd given no indication that he thought I wasn't being truthful, and I could usually tell. Like when I was a kid and would lie about taking a cookie. He always got this look in his eye that said he knew otherwise, and I didn't see that this time.

"Yeah, I'm sure."

"Okay. Whatever you say."

-SC-

I've always done what's been asked of me, never walked outside the lines that had been drawn for my life. When my dad said that he wanted me to dad his friend's son Peter, I did. When he wanted me to go to UCLA, I did. Everything about my life had been picked for me, and I never strayed. Until tonight. When Rose and I walked into Dirty Martini, I felt alive in a way I never had before. I didn't know being bad would feel this good.

I've never been to Dirty Martini, and it doesn't disappoint. There's music with a twenties inspired twist playing over the sound system. The bartenders wear white shirts with suspenders, bow ties, and news boy hats, as they make drinks for the people sitting at the bar. The waitresses that are going around to the tables are wearing flapper inspired dresses. They're really leaning into the theme, and it maybe should be tacky, but it wasn't.

"So, dancing or drink first?" Rose asked, looping her arm through mine.

"Drink first." I told her, only half aware that I answered her. I'm too preoccupied with taking in my surroundings.

There are so many people here, more than should probably be in this small of a space. They all look like they're having a good time as they move on the dance floor. There are some tables on the other side of the room that are filled with groups of people, laughing and having a good time. When my eyes reach the last booth that's in the back corner, I'm met with a pair of green eyes staring back at me.

The man sitting there, his arms, which are covered in tattoos, draped over the back of the booth. His features look like they're carved from marble, they're so perfect. His cheekbones are high, leading down to a sharp jaw that's covered in five o'clock shadow. His lips look full and pink as his tongue comes out to lick his bottom lip. His eyes are wolf like as they take me in, making a shiver go through me.

There's a strawberry blond woman in the booth with him, her perfectly manicured finger trailing down his chest as she talks seductively in his ear, but he doesn't seem to be paying attention to her, because his eyes haven't left mine. The fact that he's with another girl and eye fucking me, turns me off.

"Ugh," I roll my eyes, finally taking my gaze off the guy.

"What?" Rose asked as we got to the bar.

"Do you see that guy in the booth back there?" I asked, not looking back.

She looks in the direction I indicated. "Yeah."

"He was just eye fucking me while his girlfriend was all over him."

"Asshole." She spit, turning back around. "Why are guys such jerks?"

I shrugged. "Who the fuck knows."

When one of the bartenders finally makes their way over to us, I order a Cosmo. While I wait for my drink to be made, I sneak another look back at the booth the man and woman had been sitting in, and even though it's now empty, I swear I can still feel his eyes on me.

"I propose we get very drunk and dance our asses off." Rose joked as we turned toward the dance floor.

I'm going to say something smart back to her, but I run into a hard chest, my drink going all over their white shirt, staining it bright pink.

"Oh, shit!" he says, looking down at his now ruined shirt, as he shakes some of the liquid from his hand.

"Fuck, I am so sorry." I say, my hand going to try to wipe some of my drink off him, not that it does much good. "I didn't see you."

"It's fine." He says, his hand coming over mine to stop my movements. A shot of electricity goes up my arm at the contact. "It's just a shirt, no big."

I look up, finding the green-eyed man from the booth, and I jerk my hand back.

"Let me buy you another drink." His eyes take me in, and I hate how I get goosebumps, because this guy is such an asshole.

"I don't think so." I replied shortly. I wanted nothing to do with this motherfucker.

"Why not?" he stepped a little closer, very clearly trying to flirt with me.
"Maybe you should ask your girlfriend why not."

He laughed. Laughed!

"She's not my girlfriend."

I rolled my eyes, because who hadn't heard that one before. "Seriously, you're not even going to try to do better than that?"

"It's truth."

"And I bet she's just a friend, right?"

"She is." Another step in my direction.

I took a step back. "Well, maybe you should go back to your friend, because she was obviously more interested."

"You're not interested?" His fingers made their way up my arm, making goosebumps form in their wake. He brings his mouth close to my ear. "Your body says something different."

I feel my anger start to rise and shove him away. "You're such an asshole. Does that shit really work for you?"

"Maybe." He's so fucking cocky; it makes me want to slap him.

"Let me make this very clear to you, then." I took a step toward him, my finger stabbing his chest as I said: "I'm. Not. Fucking. Interested."

"Are you always this feisty?" He actually had the nerve to smirk.

I rolled my eyes. "Goodbye."

I started to walk around him, but he grabbed my arm. He's about to say something, but Rose beats him to it.

"Bells," her frantic voice fills my ear. "We have a problem."

I look in the direction she's pointing, seeing Embry making his way in our direction, his cold eyes filled with anger.

"Oh, shit." I say, feeling dread invade my stomach.

I was so dead.

Let me know what you think.

See you next time!