TW: MENTIONS OF SA AND ABUSE
As we made our way back into the bedroom, Taehyung stopped me before I could even think of sitting on the bed. "Wait," he said, his tone firm. I turned to him, puzzled by his sudden interruption.
"You're still dirty," he pointed out, gesturing to the dirt and grime that clung to my clothes. "what's with your obsession with keeping the bed clean?" I furrowed my brows at him.
"It's called basic cleanliness." He rolled his eyes. He then paused and stared at me intently. "Did you dress your wound today?"
I sighed, feeling a mixture of embarrassment and annoyance. "I thought you were going to do it for me," I muttered, feeling like a child being scolded by a parent. Taehyung shook his head, his expression showing disapproval. "you're so irresponsible," he scolded. I rolled my eyes at him and made my way to the bathroom, "fine I'll do it myself." He followed after me, "I never said I wasn't going to do it for you." He chuckled leaning against the door frame.
I turned around to face him, "Can you please leave the bathroom? I want to take a shower." I asked my voice low and almost pleading. He stared at me intently before backing away and closing the door behind him. "Call me when you're done."
I stood under the shower letting the water droplets cascade on my body. There was something off about me- there was this feeling deep in the pit of my stomach that made me feel physically sick. I knew this feeling- I was scared. After so many years away from them, I found my way right back to the life I tried so hard to escape from.
Stepping out of the shower, I wrapped myself in a towel and stood in front of the mirror trying to avoid making eye contact with myself. I took out the first aid kit and released the towel. Taking the previous dressing off the wound caused me to wince in pain. Taehyung hearing me groan in pain burst into the bathroom and I quickly covered myself up with the towel. He sighed came over to me and lifted me onto the sink, I flinched under his touch, earning a weird look from him. "Didn't I tell you to call me when you were done?" He scolded as he tried to remove the towel but I held it tightly. "No, it's fine I can do it." Taehyung tried to remove the towel again but I held it even tighter, "I will do it myself." He directed his gaze towards my face. He had concern and annoyance etched into his expression. "Are you going to let me help you or not?" he asked impatiently, his tone laced with frustration. "I don't understand why you're being so difficult about this."
"I just... I don't want you to see me like this," I mumbled, my voice barely above a whisper as I avoided his gaze.
Taehyung scoffed, his arrogance shining through as he rolled his eyes. "You do realize that I've seen you naked plenty of times before, right?" he said with a hint of annoyance. "It's not like I'm going to be shocked by what I see."
His words cut through me like a knife, a reminder of the countless times I had been vulnerable with him. But this time was different- I was waking up from my slumber, and I couldn't possibly let a man stare at my body. The wound I had ran deeper than any physical injury, and I couldn't bear the thought of him seeing me so vulnerable to him.
"I know, but..." I trailed off, the words catching in my throat as I struggled to find the right words to explain. "It's just... I don't feel comfortable, okay? Can't you just respect that?"
Taehyung sighed, "I will respect that but I can't let you treat your wound poorly." He tried to reason with me and paused to think before speaking, "I promise I will not stare at your body and you can trace patterns over my tattoos," he suggested softly, his voice breaking the silence between us. I stared at him with widened eyes as he took his shirt off.
He lifted my hand and placed it on his abs, and for the first time, I wasn't focused on his abs. I marvelled at his tattoos. He had a full sleeve that extended to his chest and singular tattoos on his torso. There was a tree of what seemed to be a sakura tree. It had black petals that were falling from the tree. As each petal got lower, it transformed into a drop of blood. I was so immersed and intrigued by his tattoos that I did not feel Taehyung using the antiseptic on my wound.
"What does this tattoo mean?" I asked as I pointed to the tree. He looked down at it and said, "I got it as a remembrance from when I travelled to Japan after being declared next in line to run the family business. My parents sent me to Japan to learn from the Yakuza. That night, I was attacked." He took my hand and traced it over the scar that had been covered by the tree tattoo. "I managed to kill them and escaped. For the next ten days, I was hunted down like a dog. I couldn't sleep or let my guard down." I looked up at him, "That must have been torture." He just shrugged and I continued tracing over his tattoos till I got to the one under his chest. It was in Japanese- 生死一瞬、義理一生. "What does this tattoo mean?" He looked down and sighed, "Seishi isshun, giri isshō. It means that life and death are but a moment, but duty lasts a lifetime." I nodded, I didn't really understand the significance but seeing that it was tatted where the heart was supposed to be, I could see that it meant a lot to him. He saw my confused face and spoke, "It is a proverb that my grandfather told me before he died. He picked me as the successor to the family business as his last dying wish. The day he died, he told me this proverb. It means that I have to be ready to give my life and sacrifice everything for the business because life is just a period of time, but my obligation to protect the business lasts a lifetime."
"Your grandfather was Japanese?" I asked surprised. He nodded and asked, "How come you don't have any tattoos?" I looked up to meet his gaze, "what do you mean?"
"Everyone around you has at least two tattoos, one that I'm guessing is the organization's tattoos." I turned my face avoiding eye contact, "I'm not a fan." He furrowed his brows at me, "you don't like tattoos?" I snapped my head back in his direction, "No, it's not like that. I love tattoos but not on me. The thought of a needle going through my skin and the ink mixed with my blood makes my skin crawl." He had an amused face, "why is that?" I sighed, "whatever I put on my skin mixes with my blood. If I have a tattoo of the organization on my body it means we are one and I refuse ever to let that happen. Lastly," I smiled at him. "I'm more old fashioned, I believe in omertà- it's an old code where you are sworn to secrecy. You act like the organization doesn't exist and you never mention it even in your house." He looked intrigued. "Is that why you didn't tell Jennie?" I nodded, "when I was brought here, I was sworn into omertà. Everyone here had a different initiation. Walking around with a tattoo of the organization breaks all rules of omertà."
"Why were you sworn into omertà and no one else was?" I chuckled at his question, "Are you familiar with Marvel?" He nodded. "In the Marvel Universe there is an organization called the Hydra. They train people to be spies and human weapons. They also have Bucky- he was brainwashed by the hydra and was made to do all their dirty work for him. He was their special project. Their creation that went rogue. I'm Bucky."
"In what way?" We were so immersed in the conversation that we didn't hear Svetlana coming into the room. "I came to drop off the things and apolo..." she stared at us in shock, "gize."
There we were- me on the sink topless with Taehyung shirtless in between my legs with my hands on his body.
She leaned on the door frame with a smirk on her face and I quickly cupped my breast with my palms. "Get out!" I shrieked. She laughed and walked out of the bathroom yelling, "I brought your dress and suit! Aim for a boy!"
I rolled my eyes and got off the sink. I made my way into the room and stared at the beautiful gown waiting for me on the bed. It was black with tiny black embellishments that made it shimmer from afar.
I put on a robe while Taehyung took a shower. I walked into the closet and sat at my vanity. I put on my makeup and managed to fix my hair. I stood up and put on the corset that was waiting for me. I walked over to Taehyung who was buckling his belt, trying to ignore the fact that I was in a loose corset and panties. He stared at me weirdly and I turned my back towards him. "Can you please pull on the corset?" I asked moving my hair out of the way, there was something about having my back exposed to him that made me vulnerable. "why are you wearing this thing?" His voice was tinged with disgust and judgment. I turned around to face him. "This corset is bulletproof, I have to make sure I wear this if I don't want my head hanging on the gate of this estate. Can you please tighten it up and tie it?" He stared at me bewildered but spun me around and began adjusting the laces and he started to pull. "I am going to need it very tight," I warned. He pulled so tightly that I felt my blood supply stop. I gasped when one of the laces had snapped but it was still long enough to tie a knot. I turned around to him and saw how proud he looked. "I asked for it to be tight not crush my fucking ribs." My breasts were practically spilling out of the corset due to how tight he had made it. He was trying so hard to focus his gaze on my face but was failing miserably, I couldn't blame him. I walked into the closet and put on a long basic dress and walked out of the closet to him. "I'm going downstairs, there is someone here to do nails." I waved at Taehyung and made my way downstairs.
I descended the stairs and went into the huge powder room Sola had for events like this. All the girls were there, my sisters, and the others. Each of them was seated on a chair with someone styling their hair, someone doing their make-up, and someone giving them a manicure. I stared at them confused, I didn't know who to go to when Sola called me, "Elara! You are looking beautiful mija! Who did your make-up?" All the attention had turned to me who was standing in the doorway. I walked in and walked towards her, "I did it myself." She motioned to an empty seat next to her. I struggled but sat down and a lady came up to me and started dissolving my nails.
"Why do you look so tense?" Sola asked. "Taehyung made my corset too tight." I groaned. I saw Svetlana smirking at me from the corner of my eye. I glared at her playfully, I couldn't be mad at her. She may be a little much and never know when to shut up but it wasn't her fault. She never really had anyone to be around. Sola noticed my glare at Svetlana and looked between us before asking, "What's going on? What's this silent eye communication you have going on?" I shook my head at her, "It's nothing, Svetlana was just going to keep her mouth zipped that's all." Svetlana's smirk grew even wider before announcing loud enough to make the room silent, "I walked in on Elara and her husband having sex."
My eyes widened in shock, "no you didn't!" I shrieked. There were gasps around the room with everyone looking at us in shock as Sola covered her mouth with her hand in shock, "And you didn't lock the door?" She scolded. I groaned, already unable to breathe in the corset and my sisters alongside all these strangers stared at me in shock. Svetlana spoke again, "I saw them with my own two eyes! Elara was naked on their bathroom sink and he was standing in between her legs." She was giggling acting like a teenager trying to explain the position we were in. All the girls around her also started giggling with her. "No wonder the both of you went upstairs so quickly!" Devina teased. I rubbed my temples with my head, "I am not going to explain myself to you."
Jennie's POV:
Elara caught having sex with Taehyung? Those were words I never thought I would hear in the same sentence. I stared at her with my eyes wide. Elara had never let me look at her naked, I doubt she would let Taehyung see her naked let alone have sex with him.
Elara turned her head and made eye contact with me, I turned my head away from her and saw as she let out a sigh and turned back from the corner of my eye. I don't know why I felt this rage towards my sister, she was trying but I was just filled with so much rage. I stared at myself in the mirror, I was receiving royal treatment from these people. I could barely recognize myself. My dark brown hair had been slicked into a low ponytail and I had been given a modest smokey eye with bright red lipstick to match my dress. What was so horrible about this life that made her not want to tell me?
Elara's POV:
I watched in awe as Jennie smiled at herself in the mirror. She looked beautiful, my baby sister grew up so fast. She was smiling interacting and laughing with my other sisters, and the only thing I could do was watch them from afar. I flinched when I felt a hand on my thigh. I turned to see Sola, "don't worry, give it time." But that was something I didn't have. Each waking moment it felt like my relationship with Jennie was just crumbling even further. It felt like she had finally realised that I was a horrible person and didn't need me in her life. I was afraid that my biggest fear was coming to life- I was losing Jennie.
After I got my hair styled, I waited for my nails to dry before standing up and picking up a case labelled with my name and picked it up before walking out and heading to my room.
Jennie's POV:
I watched Elara get up and leave the room. I stood up and walked over to the rack that had our gowns. A lady stopped me and held two thigh straps. "Miss, we've been instructed by Donna Elara to equip you with a few things." She spoke in Italian and motioned to another woman walking towards us with two briefcases. She motioned at me and I lifted my leg and placed it on a box exposing my thigh. She nodded at me and strapped the little strap onto my thigh before taking out a knife from one of the briefcases and putting it in the strap. I put my leg down and rose the second one. This time it was a gun that was put on safety. After putting my leg down, The lady pulled out a corset, "It is bulletproof, donna said we shouldn't make it tight." She flashed a small smile at me and I sighed. I took off my robe covering my chest with my hands as she removed the lace and put the corset on me and started to lace it up. I saw my other sisters looking at me shocked, "Don't tell me I have to wear one of those corsets too." Lisa groaned.
I chuckled at her. My breath hitched when they pulled onto the laces. I don't know how Elara was managing to sit in that corset. After she laced the corset, she brought over my gown. It almost looked like my wedding gown but this time it was red and had sparkles you couldn't see but shimmered in dim lighting.
She helped me into the red off-shoulder dress and zipped it up earning gasps from almost everyone in the room. "Jennie you look beautiful." Jisoo gasped. "Very beautiful mija." Sola covered her mouth with her hand and stared at me in awe. The make-up artist along with the stylists kept complimenting me until the other lady brought the second brief case closer.
I gasped when she opened it- it was a beautiful necklace that had huge ruby stones on it and tiny sparkly diamonds and rubies that decorated the beautiful necklace. It has matching ruby earrings embellished with diamonds and and matching bracelet. "Donna Elara instructed us to give this to you. She said it would match your dress perfectly." The lady smiled. Nabi stood up walking over to us, "Oh this necklace." I turned to her, "You know it?" I was still in shock. "Of course I know it, Elara spent all weekend creating malware to hack into the auction. She paid like one hundred and fifty million for them. She told me red was a beautiful colour for you. She was right." My expression faltered.
"This is such a beautiful piece! I can't believe Elara hid it from me!" Sola marvelled at the necklace. I come from money, but there is no way I was going to wear a set that costs one hundred and fifty million. "I am not wearing this." I shook my head. Lisa and the girls tried to reason with me. "Jennie you have to wear it, it's so beautiful." Sola stepped in, "Listen to me mija, where we are going is full of different families all over Italy that want to show how powerful they are. The women will be wearing huge diamonds on their necks to showcase wealth. We are going to represent not one family but seven families. This includes yours and Elara's husband's family." I nodded and she smiled at me before letting the woman put the necklace around my neck. It was as heavy as it looked and covered. I put on the earrings and the bracelet before stepping almost half of my chest. I stepped into my heels. Elara had them cultivate my perfume scent from scratch.
Elara's POV:
I walked into the bedroom to see Taehyung already dressed and fixing his tie. I dropped the case walked over to him and fixed his tie, "you sure know how to rock a suit Mr.Kim." I teased. He smiled at me and I went back to the bed and opened the case as he turned to style his hair.
I opened the case lifted my leg and placed it on the bedframe lifting the dress to reveal my thigh and putting on the straps on my thighs. Taehyung stared at me through the mirror, "what are you doing?" I pulled out a few knives and laid them on the bed before selecting which one went on which leg. "I am preparing." He walked over to me and stared at me bewildered. "You are going to put four knives on one leg?" I turned my head to stare at him, "Don't be silly, they are just throwing knives, I'm putting six." His mouth gaped open and I laughed. I strapped another strap on my leg and secured a gun. I put another gun next to it and put my leg down. Taehyung just shook his head at me before going back to finish fixing his hair.
"If you go downstairs, people are waiting to fix your hair for you," I said to him. He scoffed, "You even have people to do hair for the guys?" I nodded. "I am not letting some random person style my hair." I put my leg down and walked over to him. I made him sit in the chair at the vanity facing the bed. I took a comb from him and the hair gel. "Then let your wife style your hair." I started to comb his hair and got nervous when I felt his intense gaze as he stared at me through the mirror. I combed through his dark black hair and parted it before adding gel to his front strands. "I think I have to start styling your hair more." I grinned at him through the mirror. "Thank you." His voice was low, almost sultry. I felt a shiver go up my spine and quickly turned back to fix the straps on my other leg. "You're welcome." I finally took off my dress and picked up the beautiful back dress. I got into the dress and turned to Taehyung. "Please zip it up for me." My breath hitched feeling his cold fingers on my back. He zipped it up and I turned to him and got an idea.
I pulled him into the closet and pushed a button at the side of one of the wardrobes revealing a keypad. I put in the password and the wardrobed slid to the side revealing a room. I pulled his hand and got into the room.
Taehyung's POV:
The room was filled with diamonds. There was jewellery with every priceless gemstone to exist. She led to a necklace- it had black diamonds that were placed on what seemed to be white gold that had been moulded into thorny vines embellished with both black and white diamonds. There were flowers on the necklace that were represented by the black diamonds as petals and the white diamonds in the middle. It had to cost more than three hundred million.
She took it out of the casing and placed it on her neck moving her hair out of the way. I gently clasped it and I could feel her tense up when my fingers brushed lightly over her skin. She put on the earrings and the bracelet before turning to me. "Do you want to wear an earring?" I stared at her before speaking, "Sure." She pulled out a casing filled with diamond earrings.
I looked around the room, "what is this place?" I asked. She turned to look at me assessing my outfit before turning back to the case, "This is where I keep all my valuable Jewellery. All these pieces were either smuggled or were bid on." She finally turned to me and pulled out an earring that was embellished with diamonds it had a ring around a thorny stem. "This will match perfectly with my outfit." She came over to me and I bent down to let her fasten it. She smiled in satisfaction, "You are the first man to ever wear an earring in the presence of the commission."
I stared at her in shock, "I am not wearing an earring just because you want to piss a bunch of old people off." She grinned at me mischievously almost causing my heart to flutter, "Who said anything about pissing the commission off? You are my husband, and you are going to make a grand entrance as Kim Taehyung the feared mafioso in the Asian underworld who so happens to be married to Donna Elara, La Figlia dell'Ira." I smiled at her, something about the way she introduced us made me feel butterflies in my stomach. What are you doing to me, Elara Kim?
"You are one crazy woman." I chuckled. She continued to tease me, "You know, when I first heard of you, I came up with a name for you." I looked at her curiously, "what name was that?" She leaned in and I bent down to her level and she whispered in my ear; "La Belva." I stood back up, "the beast?" I furrowed my brows at her and she nodded. "That's what the people here call you. By courtesy of me." I couldn't help but smile at how proud she was of herself.
She stepped back and ran her hand over her gown, "what do you think?" She looked stunning. Her dark brown eyes matched with her dark hair perfectly with the dress and the jewelry added a sense of authority and power that didn't make her look only elegant but sexy. "You look beautiful." I managed to compliment her.
My wife was the femme fatale that could capture hearts in any room she walked in. What I didn't know was that she had already captured mine.
Elara's POV:
Hearing Taehyung call me beautiful was not something I thought I ever needed to hear till now. I smiled at him and he held out his hand. On the back of his hand was a rose tattoo. I held his hand and we walked out of the room and it closed behind us. Taehyung brought over my heels and got on one of his knees shocking me. "Give me your foot."
I lifted my dress and lifted my left leg. He bends, wraps his hand around my right ankle, puts the heel on my foot and closes the clasp. I stare at his hands as he tightens the clasp and puts it through the loop. When he's done, holding my ankle, he slowly lowers my leg back down. He repeats the same action with my other foot and gets off his knee dusting it off. I walked over to the bed and brought out the fragrances. "I had this cultivated for you on such short notice." He. lifted a brow at me and put on the fragrance.
The smell of the perfume drove me crazy, not only did he look good, but he smelled good. "Make sure you keep your wedding ring on Mr.Kim, there will be a lot of hungry women for you today." He leaned down grinning at me. "I must say the same for you, Mrs.Kim." My heart fluttered.
I handed him a gun and he hid it in his jacket, "that gun is just for show. They will ask you to empty your weapons. That is the gun you will bring out. I will hand you another gun when we get in." I warned I took a diamond clutch and placed a gun and a phone inside.
We made our way downstairs hand in hand to see everybody still getting ready. All the busy commotion stopped and everyone turned to stare at us. "Elara! You look gorgeous mija!" Sola exclaimed. She was dressed in a champagne-colored dress and her neck was covered with the hugest diamonds I had ever seen.
When we made our way down, I saw Jennie and Jungkook also coming out of their room. I stared at her, the necklace looked amazing on her. Sola noticed Taehyung's earring, "Elara, what is that? You know the commission won't be happy if they see your husband wearing an earring." she scolded. "They want me to introduce my husband to them to see which man could be able to tie me down, don't they? Well, I will show them." I smiled at her and saw Nabi also making her way down the stairs. My jaw dropped, "say something and I am hacking into your phone." She warned. I laughed and held her. "You look so beautiful, I can't believe my little Nabi is looking so stunning!" She smiled and hugged me back.
Jennie's POV:
Seeing Elara calling Nabi beautiful and showering her with compliments tore something in me. She and Nabi seemed to be so close. I am supposed to be the one laying my head in her lap and receiving all those compliments. Yet I pushed my sister away, I don't have any right to demand that she love and compliment me when I continue to push her away.
I turned to Jungkook who still couldn't seem to keep his eyes off me, and whispered into his ear, "Can you be any more obvious? I can feel you staring at me." He grinned at me and leaned down to my ear, "Who said I was trying to hide?" I rolled my eyes at him.
Kai and the girls came with a bracelet that matched the colours of our dresses. "These bracelets have been made with a tracker built in, there is a pendant on it that you can push if you feel unsafe. One of us will come and find you." He placed the bracelets on their hands. "Mix in with the crowd and stay put. You can also communicate with us through our earpieces if you want to." He also brought out expensive watches for the guys. "These watches have the same function as the bracelets. I also have a watch, you can use it to call for backup." He handed Taehyung the watch and I watched as Elara fastened it for him. She seemed different, she had a smile on her face. It hurt me to see her smiley and not show any ounce of guilt or remorse for her actions while I felt all the emotions of betrayal and pain.
Jimin went over to Nabi and held her hand before placing a kiss on it, "Brains, you just took my breath away." She smiled and complimented him, "You clean up well beauty." Elara looked confused and disgusted at them as the girls and Sola teased them.
Getting into the cars, Taaehyung and Elara went in their separate car. And we were all grouped into extremely huge and luxurious cars. I got in with Jungkook and we all made it out of the estate in one convoy. There were bikers surrounding each car and men in cars leading and behind. Even the president didn't get this much protection.
We arrived after a long drive to a grand building that seemed to be excluded from society. It was old but looked elegant.
Elara's POV:
I stepped out of the car and held Taehyung's hand as he held my hand and we walked into the building. The security was tight. We made it through the security checks and I took out my gun and placed it into the bin. I motioned to Taehyung and he did the same. The guards stared at Taehyung ready to pull him aside. I warned them, in Italian, "Touch my husband and you will be picking your fingers off the floor with your teeth." They nodded, "Si donna."
Sola walked in holding Jin's arm and I couldn't help but laugh at the faces everyone was going to have as they saw Sola walk in with her 'boy toy' and their faces did not disappoint. Their faces soon changed from shock to horror as I walked in with Taehyung. There were whispers everywhere, I felt his arm snake around my waist drawing me closer to him. I smiled to myself hearing the whispers coming from the crowd. I leaned to whisper to Taehung, "You sure know how to drive the crowd wild Mr.Kim."
He grinned at me before placing a kiss on my cheek. I could hear the whole room gasp and I felt him smile on my skin, "It's both a gift and a curse." He whispered. I couldn't help but smile, we walked to the tables that were reserved for us and he pulled out a seat for me. I took my seat and stared back at the crowd of people who had stopped dancing and talking to stare at us. The tension in the room had risen- Elara was back.
A few minutes later, Sola came over to us. She was holding two glasses of champagne, "Elara! You and Taehyung killed it! Nina told me that that bitch Daria collapsed when she saw Taehyung kiss you and his earring." She giggled. I took the glasses of champagne from her hands when one of the right-hand men came over to us. "Don Pieta is calling you to the table." He spoke in Italian. I stood up and maintained my composure.
Walking through the crowd with Taehyung's hand on my waist was like parting the Red Sea. I entered a secluded room to see all the mafia bosses seated at a U-shaped table setting. They all sat with their hands on the tables looking serious. Seated in the middle of it all was the self-proclaimed head, he was the most powerful out of them- Don Dufirio. "Don't you think we deserve seats at his table? I mean we are a part of the commission after all." I spoke breaking the silence. The tension in the room was so thick it could be sliced with a knife. "Don't you think you have to greet your elders first?" One of the dons scolded. I maintained my bold composure. "Good evening, lovely ball. Don't you think we deserve seats at this table?" Don Tino makes a snide remark and I turned my head in his direction. "Is something funny?" I asked. He looked at me with widened eyes, "how dare you speak to me like that?" He tries to stand up but Dufirio lifts his hand to signal him to remain seated. "Elara what are you doing? And who is this man you have brought here?" He looks at Taehyung and scoffs making me grit my teeth, "he's wearing an earring!" He bursts out laughing and everyone else laughs with him.
I speak up, "This is my husband, Kim Taehyung, someone you would know as La Belva." The room went silent. Dufiori's smile had faltered. "This man here is La Belva? The rising ruler of the Asian underworld?" He seemed stunned. The rest who were laughing were now silently watching in shock. I nodded my head, "This is my husband and I believe you will accord him with respect." Taehyung who had been silently standing next to me with his arm around my waist waved at them causing me to snicker.
"I see you haven't taught your husband any manners." Dufiori frowned. "My husband will choose to greet the commission however he pleases." I looked around and saw an empty chair, it was a man I dreaded being in the same room with. "I see Don Piliarmo isn't present." I pointed out. Dufiori scoffed, "That piece of shit is late to everything, he's probably fucking the brains out of his new wife by now."
My breath hitched at his statement but managed to regroup. "Well since there is nothing to say, we are going to enjoy the ball outside." I turned around and my back faced them. "You dare turn your back on the commission?!" Tino yelled I smiled and exited the room with Taehyung. "Those people are fucking out of this world," Taehyung admitted. I laughed, "They are intimidated by you. They got scared the moment they heard who you were." Making our way back in, I saw everyone dancing and having fun and saw the group of wives that were married to the commission sitting and judging them as they danced. I walked past them ignored the looks they were giving and sat down. Taehyung sat next to me with his hand holding mine the whole time we cheered his brothers as they danced.
I burst out laughing at Jungkook and Jennie's dance routine they came up with. Everyone was looking at me in shock- they had never seen me laugh before. Jungkook and Jimin pulled Taehyung onto the dance floor and made us dance with them. I was having an amazing time when the doors opened, revealing one of the men I dreaded meeting- Don Piliarmo.
He walked hand in hand with his wife who looked young enough to be his daughter. Her hair was messy and his outfit was messy, I guess Dufiori was right. He was one of the most feared men in the whole of Italy. He was the head of the Calabrian mafia. He was close friends with Paolo and would end up being one of the men that I would resent for the rest of my life.
He walked in with his wife smiling and greeting everybody and when he made eye contact with me, I tensed up.
Taehyung's POV:
I could see how pale Elara had gotten. She kept staring at the man who just walked in. Azalea came over to us and held her hand. "It's okay El, he's not going to do anything to you. He can't hurt you." She kept on whispering to her. I watched her fist tighten.
Everything was finally making sense to me- the reason why she didn't like being touched, the reason why she didn't want me to look at her body out of the blue, her not wanting to say anything and the weird look she had on her face anytime someone would mention the 'training base.' - Elara had been abused. I could feel the pain she was feeling As she maintained a straight face. Fighting the urge not to run away.
I held her hand tightly, "look at me, everyone is staring at us. Let's give them the show of the night." I held her hand and placed my other hand on her waist as we danced. "You have nothing to worry about I am here."She stared deep into my eyes and I stared back into her eyes, I never wanted to stop staring at them. They held so much pain, and trauma yet they were the most beautiful eyes I had ever stared into.
Elara's POV:
I could feel my heart rate slow as I stared into Taehyung's eyes. It felt like we were the only ones in the room. "You look exceptionally handsome Mr.Kim," I whispered as we danced. "I could say the same for you, Mrs.Kim."
As the song ended, we were interrupted by the applause from the crowd. The commission had stepped into the main hall and began talking about their new plans.
I took a step back and tried to find my way to the bathroom to recuperate. I was stopped by none other than Piliarmo I froze in my tracks as he blocked my way grinning with that devilish smile of his. "I'm not sure you want to miss this." He pointed at the big screen that was now being used to present what seemed to be a slideshow. He smiled at me, "They want to tear the place down." He feigned a disappointed voice. My breath hitched when I realized the building they were showing was the old training building. Where they moved Azalea and me to after Imani's death.
He stood behind me, "remember all the memories we made?" He whispered into my ear. I closed my eyes restraining the urge to fall to the ground and cry. I was fucking terrified. His hands slowly moved to my waist. "I was hurt seeing you let that husband of yours touch you like this." He had the most degrading voice that mocked me. The slideshow flipped to the room where Azalea and I used to sleep in. "They say that the room is in bad condition. But you and I know that is not the case." His voice continued to torment me as I stood there paralyzed with his hands roaming over my body. He leaned to whisper into my ear, "Remember when I used to fuck you on that bed?" I felt sick. I was screaming in my head- "DO SOMETHING ELARA! DON'T BE WEAK!"
There was nothing that I could do. I stood there and took it, I was back to being that little girl that was helpless with no one to scream to. But this time I wasn't powerless. I slowly reached into the hidden slit of my dress and pulled out the gun I had. He started to grind against me, "Now that you have fully developed I am sure fucking you will be even more of a delight than last time." I slowly took the gun off safety and pointed it between his legs causing him to stop grinding against me. "What do you think you are doing?" He gasped. I shut my eyes tightly and pulled the trigger.
Jennie's POV:
The presentation went silent when all of a sudden we heard a gunshot coming from the farther side of the room. Everyone screamed and scrambled. Jungkook pulled me down to cover me while I pulled out a gun. All the men from the commission pulled out their guns and we all faced the direction of the gunshot. As everyone stopped scrambling we all gasped at the sight in front of us. There we saw none other than Elara pointing a gun at the man who had arrived on his knees as he screamed in pain.
"ELARA!" Sola screamed. She ran over to Elara but was stopped when Elara spoke. "Don't take a single step further." She stopped in her tracks and started to plead with her, "Elara please stop this. Don't do this, you have no idea what you're starting." Elara scoffed, "I have every idea of what I am doing." The man on the stage shouted. "Elara! Drop the gun now! I am ordering you." She grabbed the man on his knees by his collar and dragged him with her as she walked towards the stage with the gun in her hand. "And who asked you Dufiori?" She mocked. He glared at her, "I said put the gun down now! That is a command!" He yelled. "You are in no position to command me! Don't ever fucking forget! None of you here would have any of your riches or power if it wasn't for Gli stranieri!" She screamed. That was not my sister, the woman standing in front of me was unhinged with no soul behind those eyes. It couldn't be my Elara.
She started pointing around, "You wouldn't be the head of your family if I didn't kill your father for you because you had no balls to do it." From the corner of my eye, I could see the guards rush in. "Anyone takes a fucking step close to me and I kill you all." She warned.
She turns back to the Dufiori man, "Who do you think you are? Capo dei capi?" She mocked him. "You do nothing but sit at a table and dish out fucking commands while you get people to do your fucking dirty work!" She screeched. All I could do was stare in horror watching my sister lose her fucking mind.
"Do you know how many people I have killed for everyone standing in this room?" She turned the gun in a circle motioning everyone. "Yet you want a man like that to be your boss?" she scoffed. The man's wife ran over to her and got on her knees startling everyone. "Please, No! Don't kill him!" She pleaded on her knees. Tears streamed from her eyes as she looked at her husband who was bleeding from the floor.
Elara couldn't possibly kill him, right? I yelled to Elara, "El! Stop this!" She turned back to look at me. For a moment I was scared, she didn't look like my sister. "Stop this? Stop what? Taking what is rightfully mine?" She shook her head at me. "Take this death as my application for the position of capo dei capi!" She shot both the man and his wife in the head. I watched in horror as the blood splattered everywhere and on my dress. Sola let out a scream. "NO!" She turned to me, covered in blood. This was the embodiment of La Figlia dell'Ira- the daughter of wrath.
Elara turned around and walked out. And I cried watching my sister who had changed beyond recognition leave the ballroom and covered in blood.
Elara's POV:
Walking out of the ballroom, it dawned on me that I had started a war with the commission. But I didn't care, I had the blood of that man on me. I rushed into the car waiting for me and Taehyung and instructed him to take me back to Milan.
The whole ride was silent. I needed to get out of this dress. The blood was starting to dry on my skin. Even after his death, he still managed to find a way to touch me.
My skin is suddenly too tight for my body. I don't feel anything but dirty. The kind of dirty that I can only feel in my soul, the one place where I can't scrub viciously with soap. I looked out of the window staring at the lights of the city as we entered Milan.
Reaching the building, I tell the driver to leave. I stumble into the house taking my heels off. I walked through the silent hallway, the pictures on the walls mocking me with the smug looks on their faces. I wanted to cry so bad, I wanted to feel the emotion of the pain I was going through, but I couldn't cry. Elara Lee, the woman of many capabilities, La figlia dell'ira, couldn't even do something as simple as shed tears.
I stopped and saw a picture of myself hanging on the wall, I was five. I had a beautiful pink dress on with a pretty bow in my hair. I looked at the innocent smile on my face; she had no idea what was going to be in store for her. She was just a child who put her trust in adults; she trusted her mother, but she failed her. She trusted everyone but they failed her.
"Elara what have they done to you?" I wailed as I slid down the floor clutching the picture in my hands. "what have they done to you Elara?" I kept repeating as I wailed onto the floor. I screamed waiting for me to wake up and realize this was all a nightmare.
I stopped crying and looked at my hands- they were covered in blood. "I'm dirty." I stood up, walking like a zombie into the bathroom. I stood under the shower and let the water pour on me in my dress. I watched the blood mixing with the water as it went into the drain. "I'm dirty." I kept on repeating to myself as I started to scrub myself vigorously with the sponge. I had to scrub it all off- I had to scrub off their kisses. their handprints, the saliva, all the horrible marks and DNA they left on my body. I needed to scrub it off. Under the piping hot water, I didn't even care that I was scrubbing my skin off. I can feel their touch in my bones. The memories are seeping in through my eyes, and I close them as tightly as I can but it still leaks through. I am shivering and shaking, but I am so, so dirty.
I am fucking deranged, left with only my fucked up mind and I am so so so dirty, I am filthy, and will never be loved."I have to get it off!" I shriek, harsh and guttural, like the words are being torn away from my throat.
"Get off me!" I scream. My hands are on my head, pulling my hair, clawing at my skin. My nails are tearing through the skin of my arms, and I think that the pain is the most real thing I have ever felt. I clawed desperately at my face, my neck, and arms. It hurts, it fucking hurts, and I am sobbing but laughing because isn't this just the best thing ever? I was telling Azalea to get over it, but here I was losing my fucking mind. After spending thousands on laser removal, here I was inflicting scars on the same arms I tried to erase. The blood was starting to mix with my blood. I scrubbed so hard and watched as my blood also started to go into the drain. Yet, I never felt an ounce cleaner.
I didn't hear a car entering the estate. Someone bursts through the bathroom door and there he was, my knight in shining armour- Kim Taehyung.
I look up at him as I'm crouched holding my knees. He looks down at me with the softest expression I have ever seen. He crouched down and tried to hold my hand. I flinched, shaking my head frantically. "I'm dirty, Taehyung don't touch me." I held my legs.
He entered the shower not caring about getting wet, "look at me Elara." He commanded. I continued staring at the white wall shivering and shaking. "Elara look at me!" He yelled I snapped my head in his direction. "You are not dirty Elara." His voice was soft and comforting. I began shaking my head, "No, I'm dirty. They used me. I'm dirty Taehyung." I rocked back and forth as the hot water from the shower continued to pour on me.
Taehyung snapped me out of it by crashing his lips into mine. I stared at him in shock and horror as he kissed me. He pulled back and stared at me. "You are the most beautiful woman I ever set my eyes on Elara Kim. You can never be dirty." I looked into his eyes and for the first time, I saw an emotion in Taehyung's eyes I never thought I would see- Love.
I pulled him in for another kiss, crashing my lips into his as the hot water poured onto us burning his body yet he didn't care. he held my face gently trying not to spook me as he kissed me deep and passionately.
Pulling away from the kiss he smiled at me, "I love you so much Elara Kim. More than you can ever imagine."
(THIS IS THE LONGEST CHAPTER OF THE BOOK, I HOPE IT WASN'T TRIGGERING PLEASE DON'T BE SILENT READERS!!")