An Arranged Marriage To The Mafia...?

Colours of copper fell like torrential down pours, the small coins spun, rolled, and bounced from slot machines and made eager grins form over the lips of everyone who dared take their chance. Casinos were exactly the place where dreams were made. Cards held more than fortune and prediction about future, they held the potential of riches beyond the avergae imagination and the desperation of losing everything. Women clasped their purses and smile their stained red grins as they won, men physically felt their ego rise and everyone in the vicinity of a winner screamed and cheered in pure excitement.

But the excitement buzzing around the place fell silent on my own ears as my yellow closed pumps graced the red carpets of my father's biggest gaming room. My vision burned on a particular figure in a slimming blue dress, her painted nails cover her over-glossed lips as she laughed obnoxiously around men in fine suits, her heels made her legs appear endless, her body perfectly shaped and poised underneath the perfect shade of blue.
Penelope Jakowski was visual perfection and as I stared at her from across the room I contemplated understanding why Ethan had secretly sought after her. She was everything the typical man wanted in a woman by standards of what the eyes could see. Vuluptuous curves in all the right places, perfectly gleaming smile and eyelashed that shadowed and battered her eyes in every direction.

Adreneline rose and poured inside my very soul, hatred scorched my heart strings and in seconds I felt my small feet move gracefully over the threaded carpets in her direction, eyes burning in fury.

"You aren't welcome here." My voice poured in the hectic noise without much recognition.
Penelope swirled around, her pretty hazel eyes staring down at my small frame.

"I was invited."

"By who?" I frowned and glared harshly in her direction.

"Ethan invited me tonight."

I swollowed a deep breath as my stomach flipped and frolicked inside my chest. "This isn't his hotel to invite you to -"

"And I don't believe it belongs to you either love."

"It's just as much mine as it is my father's and I'm informing you that you're invitation has been revoked." My voice was harsh and menacing as I stared Penelope down, though her eyes flickered behind me and a smile appeared across her lips.

"Amelia.."

I drew in a deep breath and turned on my heel to face my finace, my eyes burned with complete hatred and anger.

"Amelia, that's enough."

Ethan'shand reach toward me. "Don't touch me." I withdrew my arm with incredible speed. "How dare you invite her here."

"Amelia-"

"Don't." for a brief second I closed my eyes and took in the new silence.

"Ethan..." Her voice charmed the air in it's perfect tone and I watched as his eyes danced over to her, his expression blank and unreadable.

"Give me a second."

My heart fell at his relaxed tone and the idea that he was still planning on spending his night in her company. "I hate you." I bit back harshly and pushed past him, ignoring his voice as it called my name behind me.

The elevator chimed and I paced the few steps into the luxury penthouse at the top of my father's hotel. It wasn't as incredibly lavish as the Radev's but it was extravagent to say the least. My heels clicked against the tiles as tears of pure frustration threatened to spill at any second. The bell above the lift dinged again and my attention was cast to the gold panelled elevator doors, my eyes burning to an instant glare as Ethan stepped into the high-rise room.

"Get out." I didn't remain in the same room but paced down the small passage ways and into the main bedroom's ensuite.

"Amelia, you're being ridiculous." Ethan's voice sounded physically tired as he followed me.

"I'm not being ridiculous, what's ridiculous is the fact that you think it's fine to invite you're whore to my father's casino, what's ridiculous is that you expect me to be civil to her, the daughter of my best friend's murderer!" I stood in the bathroom doorway and watched as he waltzed back and forth around the bedroom gathering the small amount of belongings he had sprawled around the room.

In our world nobody stayed in the same place longe enough to be found out, constantly hotel rooms and mansions were moved, which meant we never stayed in the same penthouse or home for more than two weeks.

"It's business Amelia! How many times do I have to tell you this?" Ethan's voice echoed in the small vicinity of the room.

"I'm so tired of this," My voice lowered to barely audiable and I walked forward into the bedroom, my legs gracing the feel of the soft comforter at my knees.

"It's nothing, it's simply business. I wish you would just accept that."

"How am I suppose to accept it?" My eyes lifted from the bed top to the tall frame before me. "How do I accept the prospect of an unfaithful marriage, marrying somebody who doesn't love me or even like me for that matter. How do I accept my fiance running around the city with the daughter of my best friend's murderer?" Tears welled automatically in the corners of my eyes and i felt my voice crack under the pressure of my speech.

Ethan sighed tiredly and thumbed the bridge of his nose in pure frustration before his eyes caught mine and a glimmer of unreadable emotion danced along his gaze. In four simple strides he had crossed the room and stood before me, his eyes brimming with something I hadn't quite seen before, his breathing uneven and arms quickly enveloping my heaving frame and I burried my face against his chest. I felt the grasp around my waist and shoulders tighten and his lips press a small subtle kiss upon the top of my head.
"You don't have to accept anything." His voice was muffled but clear.

"W-what?" I pulled back to stare up at him, his hold still loosely around my figure.

"Penelope is only business..." his hand clasped around my much smaller one, his thumb gracing the small diamond on my ring finger, "Our business with Penelope is about to end."

Before I could give my response Ethan had crossed the room and pryed open his bed side drawer, his hands loudly searching through a number of articles before removing something which made my blood run cold. The metallic glint of an automatic gun held perfectly positioned and waiting in his palm before it vanished inside his gun-holder on the inside of his suit jacket.

"Ethan?" My voice was weak and almost completely unnoticeable as I watched him pushed along the floor before he disappeared through the doorway and heard the chime of the elevator. I stood gaping and frozen by the edge of the bed filled entirely with disbelief at the realisation slicking over inside my brain; Ethan Radev was about to murder Penelope Jakowski.