02

The group of guys stood in shock, but because they were what people called delinquents, they didn't show it on their faces.

"Tyler, what do we do about her? She has seen us pull out our guns, she could rat us out to the police. Oh for god sakes, she could be a police officer herself waiting to arrest us any second."

"Don't you think she would've to arrest us already, you idiota? I'll let Don know about it and see what he decides to do about her, but right now assign some guys to watch her. If she goes anywhere near the police station, shoot her in the head."

"Got it."

Tyler walked towards their car while making a phone call to the Don.

"Mr. Becker paid, sort of. This girl interrupted us just as we were about to kill him, and offered to pay his debt. We also pulled our guns on her, so I ordered for a couple of men to follow her because I'm unsure whether we should kill her or not. What do you think, Stefano?"

"Interesting. Keep tabs on her and I want a background check done on her."

"All right. See you later, bye."

The next morning she woke up to a phone call from her mother. To say the least, she wished it was her alarm instead.

"Hi my sweet girl!" a sweet voice had said. The problem was Calla knew this voice too well, her mother would've never spoken to her in that manner if she didn't want anything.

"How much do you need?"

"Calla, why do you always have to assume that I need something from you? Can't I just call my sweet daughter and have a chat with her."

Calla scoffed, "Well of course you can, but you never were the mother type so just tell me how much you need. I have things I need to do."

"I owe some people money."

When do you not?

"Spit it out."

"325K."

Calla dropped her poker face and emotion of shock covered her face.

325K.

That was double the amount she gave her mother last time. Her mother had a gambling problem, and no matter what Calla tried to do, her mom couldn't stop. Calla had hoped and hoped that one day her mother would change, but this morning she realized that no matter what she did or said, her mother would always be like that.

"Give me the name of the casino that you owe money to, I'll hand them the cheque." Calla saying to her mother unable to trust her anymore and fearing that her mother would use the money she's given her to gamble more.

"Oh thank you Bambina, the casino's name is The Red Lagoon. It's a bar that has a casino on the top floor."

And before Calla could say bye, her mother ended the call. No longer able to hold her strong facade, Calla broke down crying. She had wished that there would be a miracle and her mother magically became someone that cared for her.

The only person who ever cared for her in her entire life was Nonna Rosa. Whenever Calla was upset, she could always talk to her nonna and by the end of their conversation, it would always end with laughs.

Standing up and deciding that she had cried enough, Calla had decided to make another promise to herself, that no under what circumstances, she would no longer help her mother.

Calla carried on with her day.

Realizing she should probably get someone to fix the car, she called her Frank. Frank was a guy who worked at the car repair shop Downtown, and the guy Calla has been going to since she was seventeen.

"Hello, Frank speaking." A scruffy voice replied.

"Hi Frank, it's Calla."

"Oh Hi Calla, how are you? It's been so long."

"Everything is great, how are you?"

"I'm doing well, thank you for asking. So what's up? Calling to fix your old car?"

"Yea, it broke down on me last night."

"You know Calla, maybe you should just sell the car and get a new one. You've had that car for what? Eight years? I think it's time for an upgrade."

Calla thought about it, it wasn't like she didn't have money. She had inheritance money from Nonna Rosa, all the money she had saved since she was thirteen, and not to mention the pay from being a lawyer was pretty good as well.

"I'll think about Frank, but could you just send someone to pick up my car and get it fixed. If I were to sell it, I don't want to sell it to someone broken. Anyways, I have to go, I'll talk to you next time."

"Alright Calla, be safe, bye."

"Bye Frank."

Calla had made sure that she wouldn't work overtime today. She wanted to get the cheque to the Red Lagoon as soon as possible. Looking up at the time, she had seen that it was already 5:00, so she decided that it was a good time to start heading out. She packed her bags and headed home.

Once Calla arrived home, she took a shower and made herself dinner. She then changed into a pair of black skinny jeans, a black silk tank top, and black stilettos.

She thought if she was going to a casino with a bar, she might as well get a drink.

Writing a cheque two days in a row, now that is a record.

Calla then called for a taxi.

Upon arrival, Calla was surprised to see the Red Lagoon, it was for sure classier than she expected, and when she entered, she felt like she entered the devil's playground. While Calla was looking for someone to help her, she recognized the tall guy in the leather jacket. Unsure whether she should approach him or ignore him, Calla settled on asking the bartender.

"Hi, what would you like?" the bartender had asked, who Calla soon realized his name was Alex.

"I'm not really looking for a drink at the moment, do you have any clue where I could find your boss?"

"Uh, you're looking for Stefano Valentino? Because you seem like a sweet girl, I wouldn't suggest that you do that sugar, he's dangerous and not a good person."

"I don't really care if he's dangerous, I just need to find him. So do you know where he is or not?"

Then walked up the guy from the other night, "What's up, what seems to be the problem?"

"She wants to see the boss," the bartender replied.

"Okay, I'll bring her to him. Thanks, Alex."

Calla followed right beside him and both of them walked towards an office in silence. That was until the leather jacket guy decided to speak up.

"It may not be my business, but I'm just wondering what you are doing here. You don't seem to be the type of person to go out to a club."

Sighing, "I'm here to pay my mother's debt."

He was shocked to see her here just to pay another debt.

"Well, here's the office. I let him know beforehand that we were coming so you can just enter."

"Thanks."

Before entering she stopped, "Wait, I never got your name."

"Tyler."

"Nice to meet you Tyler, my name's Calla," she said as she offered him her hand.

After shaking her hand, he walked away.

Bringing her hand towards the door handle, she couldn't help but smell a strong scent of peppermint and cigarettes.

Calla quite liked the smell.

"Welcome, what can I do for you?"

It wasn't like Calla to freeze up, this man in front of her was drop-dead gorgeous. He had these beautiful grey-green eyes and beautiful, shiny raven black hair. The tattoos he had were absolutely gorgeous.

Quickly snapping out of her daydream, she started speaking, "Hi, Mr. Valentino, I'm here to pay for Anastasia Ricci's debt. Here's the cheque, and have a nice night." Calla quickly said keeping it brief, before turning around and heading out.

It was then when she was a couple of steps away from Mr. Valentino's desk, she heard multiple gunshots. Mr. Valentino shot out of his seat and grabbed a pistol from his drawer.

Was Calla shocked?

No, not even a little, it wasn't the first time she's seen a gun. I mean for god sakes, she was almost shot last night, this was nothing compared to last night. Then all of a sudden, Mr. Valentino grabbed her hand and handed her a gun.

"Look, I don't know if you know how to use this, but I want you to hide behind my desk, and don't leave this room. The safety is already off, got it?"

"Sure."

In all honesty, Stefano didn't know why he handed her a gun, but in his tiny little heart, he couldn't bear to see her get shot. Stefano was intrigued, this woman who was twenty-three, paid for someone else's debt with no hesitation, and upon hearing gunshots, didn't scream or get shaken up.

While Stefano was roaming the halls, looking for the intruders, Calla was sitting under a desk with a gun in her hand. It didn't take a genius to know how to use a gun, it was pretty simple. Calla had wished she took a shot of vodka or some type of alcohol, waking up at 4:30 took a toll on her body. Then the door of the office got kicked down.

A raspy voice started talking.

"I'm in the office, boss, and he isn't in here."

Calla was the type of person to play with her rings. She liked to fidget with them and it was a habit she developed in seventh grade. Maybe it was the world telling her it was time for the intruder to know she was here because her ring slipped and fell onto the wooden floor making a noise exposing herself.

"There's someone here boss."

As the footsteps got louder, Calla flipped off the safety switch and started positioning her finger onto the trigger. Never in Calla's entire life did she imagine that she was going to be in this position. The office was so quiet that Calla could hear her heart beating so loud, so loud that she wondered if it was possible that her heart would jump right out of her chest.

Right when the intruder's lower body was in Calla's view, she pulled the trigger and shot the intruder in the leg. Calla quickly got out from under the desk and stood up. Thinking quickly, she aimed the gun towards the man's arms. If she shot him in his arms, there would be no way for him to use the gun. At least not with the pain he'll be feeling.

The man fell onto his knees crying in pain, and Calla let out a breath that she didn't know she was holding.