Beneath The Mafia's Dark Mind

The sound of a phone ringing from the room disturbed the entire house which was only contested by the sound of water from the showers hitting the floor. About twenty minutes later, all the sounds died down and silence took over. It was so silent that the gentle footsteps of a lady emerging from the bathroom could be heard. She dabbed her hair with a towel as she sat in front of her mirror to get herself ready to go to bed.

Her eyes caught sight of her best friend's lip gloss and just then, she began wondering about her whereabouts.

"It's getting late. Why isn't Kia home yet? She better not be out causing trouble again! Because I cannot bear that drama right now." She muttered to herself.

In an attempt to quench her worry, she stretched forth her hand and reached for her phone. And as she lit it up, she saw many missed call notifications from Kia on the screen.

"Kia doesn't call this much at once. What is she up to again?" she squinted.

She was about to ring Kia when that action was interrupted by an incoming call. She tapped to answer and put it on speaker.

"Hello, Kia, where are you?" She asked as she got up to wear her pajamas.

"Scarlett, my love," Kia giggled.

"Where did you leave your phone? I have been calling you."

"You sound tipsy, Kia. Where are you? Why is it so loud? Did you go clubbing again?" Scarlett's anxiousness could be heard in her voice.

Kia is Scarlett's best friend and has been part of her life since high school. Her jovial life had been a source of strength to Scarlett.

"Did you already forget the mess you made last time? You-"

Kia cut her off, leaving no room for any of Scarlett's complaints. "Relax, I just wanted to celebrate, I'm here at Red and Blue Pub." She giggled. "Guess what?" Kia sounded hyper.

"What? A new crush? A new boyfriend? What is it this time?" Scarlett blurted out, her voice devoid of the initial concern that it carried earlier.

Kia laughed. "I got accepted! I passed the interview. Finally I'm going to be working in one of the most prestigious companies."

"What?" Scarlett screamed. She was excited to hear this development.

"Yup, that's right. I got a text from the D'Amico group, I made it!" Kia's voice had a lot of life in it.

It had always been her dream to work in a big company and have a name tag of her own. Most times Scarlett couldn't really understand what was so special about hanging a name tag and being stuck in an office for about eight to nine hours.

Scarlett's dream was to be a model, and she had been living her dream until after her devastating break up with a man she once considered her everything. Since then, Scarlett became less interested in relationships and never had feelings for any man that she encountered.

Her relationships always ended in two days or two weeks and two weeks was the highest record because it was either she got bored or the guy realized he was dating a robot.

Just then, Scarlett heard Kia yell, followed by an intense argument that blasted her eardrums. Before she could say a word or get a hang of what was happening, she heard a loud thud and a sound of glass shattering and immediately after that, the call got disconnected.

"Kia! Kia!" She shouted and immediately tried calling back but she couldn't reach Kia anymore. "Shit, she's lost it again."

Scarlett immediately grabbed her car keys and rushed out.

*******

The VVIP door of the Red and Blue Pub got shut and Derek stood with both hands in his pocket. He wore a white shirt and his sleeves were curled up, with the top two buttons of his shirt undone.

He quickly ran his eyes around the room and noticed all the men present were armed with guns. He slowly turned his focus to Deegan, who was sitting with his legs crossed and a smile of achievement playing around his lips.

"Welcome, Derek," he said mockingly as he pointed at the chair in front of him.

Derek's eyes were cold and his face still emotionless as he calmly sat without showing any sign of fear or intimidation.

"It's just as I heard, you really are one tough nut to crack." Deegan signaled his men to fall back as he spoke. "But I must say, you really have some nerve walking in here alone. Are you that brave or are you just fucking stupid?" He laughed hysterically as he piped on the cigarette he had in hand.

"I'm here because of the deal, not to pick a fight with you." He said, looking less concerned by the second, with both hands placed on the table, revealing his strong hairy arms and neat fingers. His left middle finger was adorned with a shiny gold ring, which had a dragon embedded on it.

Deegan felt insulted as Derek showed no regard to him. With rage, he immediately picked up a gun and aimed at Derek.

"What's in that cigarette that makes you so confident? I came here to do a deal, so everyone would go home happy, but since you've decided to be a dick, then I'll be the bigger dick. I'll take the Casino from your hands and let you walk away with your life."

"You talk a big game for someone who's staring into his death. There's nothing you can do. I have all the power here." Deegan chuckled.

"What do you know about power? You shriveled fool! I would kill you right here and now without raising a finger, because I can. That is power." Derek growled with soft anger.

"What!" Deegan exclaimed on realizing all his men turned their guns against him.

"What's going on? What are you all doing? How dare you turn against me?" He barked. A stunned expression plastered his face the moment he caught sight of Derek's ring.

The gold ring with a dragon symbolizes the chosen heir of a renowned mafia ring, The DragonViper.

"How in the world does he have that ring? The modest looking and most sorted bachelor in the country, who's too busy playing the role of meek young philanthropist. How is he a Mafioso in disguise? And not just any Mafioso but the head of the ring. The head of the dragon, some even call him." Deegan thought to himself silently, sensing he was in big trouble.

Derek raised his left hand and immediately one of Deegan's men stroked Deegan with a gun and made him fall to his knees.

"I warned you, didn't I?" Derek's voice was as cold as ice.

Deegan laughs hysterically, "I can't believe this, you got my men to turn against me? And you're taking my Cassino away from me. How could you do this to me?" His shaky voice uttered.

"If you want to be a snake, then never hesitate. You had your chance to shoot but you lost it. Never make a threat you're not ready to follow up on." Derek picked up the document Deegan had dropped on the table and tore it to pieces. He then pulled out another document from his suit pocket and dropped it on the table. The title read "Business Transfer Agreement," and he signed his part.

"Please spare me, please give me one more chance. I swear, I'll make things right, I'll make it up to you." Deegan pleaded, as fear engulfed him.

"You should have thought about that before joining hands with Ramon Sabich to fight me. You already know I don't give second chances, you both should have done your homework and made your plan perfect. Although I feel you are the one that was used." Derek responded nonchalantly, throwing the papers at Deegan.

Without Derek saying another word, Deegan immediately signed the papers.

"You really made an effort to keep yourself safe. Isn't that why you had us meet here? Pretty smart. You get points for that. And as much as I want to put a bullet through your head myself, I don't want to taint my perfect image and expensive suit with your cheap blood. It's not worth it, Deegan. You're not worth it. Dead or alive."

Derek got up and walked out of the room. Deegan's voice could be heard screaming and begging for mercy, while his men drags him out of the room.

Derek got out of the VVIP room to the main hall, he was heading to his private elevator when Scarlett rushed in. It wasn't his first time in a club, but it was his first time seeing a lady dressed in pajamas in a club.

She was looking around desperately like a new mother that had just lost her baby.

She immediately barged into the VIP hall. Derek had never taken any interest in a lady but he couldn't stop staring at Scarlett. He couldn't tell if it was because of her weird appearance or if there was something more.

"This bitch is really stubborn. How many times do I have to tell you to get into the room with me." Scarlett heard a man yelling, and she ran in that direction.

"I already told you to let me go." Kia kept resisting as the drunk man pulled her hand.

"How dare you do this after all the drinks we bought you, huh? You are now playing hard to get?"

"I never begged you guys for a drink did I? Now, if you're done, get the hell out of my face," Kia said as she turned to grab her purse.

"You slut," the drunk guy shouted, reaching for her hair and grabbing it.

"You bastard!!" Scarlett appeared and cursed at the drunk man. She immediately rushed at him and swung his hand away, pulling Kia away from him.

The drunk man glared at Scarlett and took two steps towards her and Derek, who had been observing the scene unfolding before him, took steps forward too.