The ball came faster than we all thought.
I was excited.
This last week has been filled with things I'd never imagined myself doing. I've been taking more self-defence classes and learning how to use a gun has become easier. I've hit my target spot a few times without Tori's help which has honestly felt amazing.
But now I still have a whole week left until I leave. Which is scary to me.
Malia, Danica, and I were getting ready together. We asked Anna if she wanted to get ready with us but she has a thing for getting ready alone.
The dresses we all got were amazing. The annual ball is the one night out of all the events the mafias hold where you don't have to go in your mafias colors.
Mine is red, it's a simple satin red dress with a slit on my right leg running to my high thigh. My hair was in a half-up half-down bun, little red flower pins holding it in place.
I went with a good makeup look. I had darker eye shadow on and did more to my lips.
Danica's dress was blue, with a semi-sweetheart neckline with a slit on her right running up to her high thigh. Her hair was down but she had two blue clips holding some hair back giving her a half-up half-down look.
Malia's dress was black. It had a deep v-neck and a slit that ran to her mid-thigh. Her dark hair was held back in a slick back ponytail. She did some bold eyeshadow too.
And this ball is a masquerade ball so it meant we had to have masks. Malia and I went with a black mask while Danica opted for a cream coloured mask.
"Jesus, we look good." Malia said as we finally all stood in front of the large mirror in her living room.
"I definitely think the colors were the right choice for us." Danica said.
"Me too." I agreed with her.
We started to walk towards the door when Tori's voice stopped my steps. A smile crept on my face.
"We'll meet you downstairs." Malia said with a smile as she walked off with Danica.
"Ciao bambina." She said as I stopped and turned around to face her.
"Hi love." I said softly.
I noticed she wasn't dressed. She was simply in her usual pair of black jeans and a black shirt. She didn't look at all ready to be downstairs.
"You aren't dressed." I said with a small pout as her arms slid around me.
"I'm simply not going." She said and I looked at her confused.
She was hosting.
"What?" I asked confused.
"Yeah. I'm simply not going. I don't usually go." She said
"But Tori you're hosting it?"
"That I am."
"So how can you not show up to your own event?"
"It's easy, I stay up here waiting for you. Getting some work done in the meantime." She smirked.
I rolled my eyes at her statement. It's simply ridiculous. How do you not go to your own event. Surely you can't invite more than 300 people and not make a single appearance.
"Bambina, those eyes." She said sternly.
"I can't believe you're not coming." I said sliding my hands up her arms. "So all the dances are going to be with strangers." I said.
"Now you're getting it." She smiled.
"Now I'm only going to want to come up faster." I said with a dramatic sigh.
"No, you don't. You have to stay until the last dance." She said.
"Why?"
"It's courtesy bambina." She smirked. "It will be fine, I promise." She placed a soft kiss on my lips.
"I know." I kissed her once again before I slid out of her arms.
I said goodbye and headed for the elevator. Once I reached the bottom floor I looked around to see if I could spot anyone.
I could see Grey and Anna. I was not going up to them because I wasn't in the mood to be around Grey in all honesty.
"Red suits you." Someone said as they stood next to me.
I was startled for a moment and turned to look at the person. She had long brown hair, and from what I could see through her mask she had green eyes. She was wearing a light blue dress. She looked to be taller than me, a little shorter than Tori.
She had a single tattoo under her left collarbone.
"Pardon my rudeness in approaching you like this. I'm Cierra." She extended her hand for a handshake. Her name sounded familiar but I couldn't tell you where I'd heard it.
"Belle." I shook her hand with a light smile.
"That's a very pretty name." She said with a smile.
"Thank you." I smiled back.
"Of course, most of the house knows about you by now. But there's no harm in getting to know you." She said.
"Really?" I asked confused.
"You're dating our boss, it's hard to miss." She chuckled and I did too.
"Care for a dance?" She asked and I agreed.
We walked to the floor and danced together for a bit while we talked. But I was missing Tori.
"I'm not a fan of how Tori doesn't show up to these kinds of things." I sighed as both Cierra and I got off the dance floor.
"What do you mean?" She asked confused as we stood at the bar and sipped on the champagne we were served.
"She said she doesn't show up to these things. She prefers to stay away." Cierra took a minute before she looked at me and responded.
"That's odd. She always shows up, at least in the least expected way." She sipped some more of the champagne. "At least she did that when I was with her."
My ears perked up. "What do you mean?" I asked her.
"Tori is my ex." She held a smile on her face. Mine remained sour. "I'm going to assume by the look on your face, you haven't talked about past relationships." She said softly as her smile faded.
"We have." I shook the look off my face. "We have talked about past relationships." I said confidently knowing we hadn't even talked about anyone other than April.
"Good. I was worried you were gonna hate me all of a sudden." She chuckled and I stifled one too.
"The rotation dances are starting now, do you want to go?" Cierra asked me.
"Sure." I said with a smile and we left for the floor.
After a few minutes of dancing the rotated partners and I ended up with a random guy in the Hungarian mafia first, then someone from America.
We danced a little longer before rotating once more.
"Miss me bambina?" Tori said. I didn't even know she was here.
She was in a dress and her hair was flowing down her back effortlessly. It was a strapless dress with a sweetheart neckline and it displayed her tattoos perfectly.
"You came?" I asked her as we danced together.
"I always come." She placed a soft kiss on my lips.
"You said you don't come to these things." I said as I pulled back quickly.
"I'm always here, people just never recognise me." She smirked.
"And you're in a dress? You look really nice." I said with a light blush on my cheeks as I looked over her appearance once more.
She chuckled "Grazie bambina." We danced a little longer before we had to swap partners.
I didn't want to. But we did and I instantly regretted it when Grey was the next person I was with.
"You look lovely Belle." He said softly.
"Thank you." I said flatly.
"Have you thought a little more about what I said?" He asked.
"No Grey. I'm not coming back." I said as I tried to leave.
His hands gripped me tighter and it started to hurt.
"Arabella, come home. Italy doesn't deserve you like we do. Come home, baby." He said pulling closer to him and I tried to fight his hold.
"Grey, please stop, you're hurting me." I said to him so only we could hear.
The ball was going so well and everything felt light up until this moment.
He danced us in a wider space like he was making his way out of the room.
"If you won't come home then I'll take you home Belle. We can handle Arman together. I love you." He moved us out of the room and into a darker hallway.
His hands roamed my body roughly. I was frozen. I wanted to move but couldn't. I felt like I was stuck in place.
"Greyson. Move away from her." A low harsh voice came from behind Greys' large frame.