I shook hands with her. “You already know mine,” I said, shaking her hand and she smiled widely. 

“Please sit,” she said and I hesitantly sat down on one of the two sofas present there. She turned toward those two men who were kneeling before her. She stepped closer to them and they started begging.

“Please…please giesha I'm begging you I didn’t even take the money…” one of them begged her while the second was already injured enough with deep cuts to even speak, but alive. I noticed her hand with the dagger was covered in blood. 

“I gave you 20 packets, 5 of them were missing that you sold at double the price to a local dealer, the question is, where is the money?” She stopped and sat down in front of him. “Give me the money or give me all those 5 packets,” she said and he started crying again, I was watching her moves very closely. Watching it happen, thinking I shouldn't be here. 

“Do you all think I don't notice you all just because there are so many of you? I watched every small move of all of you” She was talking to him and he kept saying that he didn't take the money. 

“Your wife Walter…she is pregnant isn’t she?” she said and he got silenced for a second with shock and fear, as if he saw an angel of death. 

“Please …please …” he grabbed her legs and started begging “Please she is innocent she doesn’t know what I do please,” he said and begged when some word grabbed her attention. I thought she might forgive him or give him another chance but in the blink of an eye, I saw her piercing that man’s throat with her dagger. She was so fast that I couldn't even catch her hand moving back and forth. My heart raced and I curled my toes in my shoes tightly. The moment she sliced his throat she bent down her face towards him and heard her saying,

“We all are innocent” She takes out her dagger with a slight streak of blood from his throat ruining her tight skirt.

“What a bloody night!” she said “Garfield please clean it baby” she ordered one of the guards and sat down in front of me. 

"And oh send the word to Gabriel to pick his wife up from the hospital as soon as she delivers the baby" she orders of one those three guards dressed in all black and sits down on the sofa right in front of my face and starts looking into some files of profile. The curiosity makes me ask her a question that maybe I shouldn't have asked.

"What're you going to do with his wife?" I asked in a low voice. She looked up at me by moving only her eyeballs and then looked down again.

"She will pay for the things he didn't," she said "Dead or alive" she completes with a sarcastic smile like she enjoys the thought if his wife can't then what're they gonna do with the baby?? Are they gonna keep it??.

"Miller told me you were interested in joining our business" she starts inquiring me once she is done looking into the file, I guess it was my profile she was looking at but how much did she find out about me?

"Yes and I was expecting to meet him, not you," I said in a rough tone. 

She stares at me like she trying to remember my face.

"I think I saw you somewhere," she said squeezing her eyebrows a little with attitude but then she popped her heavy lipgloss and tossed over the thought.

"Well" she corrected her posture "you see I am the one who handles all the entries and exits of this business like from handing over to getting delivered in America and Asia," she said with a professional smile. She looked like a doll, but I could feel rage and poison behind her smile. Does she handle in all of America and Asia? By on her own? Well, definitely not she must have the entire gang or something I can tell by how she orders these men. 

"I don't know what business exactly you all do but yes I am interested in investing a huge amount" I informed her of my fake plan of entering into their society to get close to George Kingston.

"If you wanna be a business partner then you have to be a part of our society," she said and that is exactly what I want. I smiled and nodded.

"And how can I do that?" I asked with another fake smile.

" By taking an initiation in Moscow," she said and I got confused because I remembered a very blurred piece of memory of Ray when he told me that he grew up in Moscow.

"We all have to pledge loyalty to our godfather," she said making the words obvious but she was serious, like it was real but it didn't sound real. A godfather?

"Who that godfather is?" I asked and she stood up.

"You asked too many questions miss meyers," she said and lighted a cigarette. Within minutes that tiny cave filled with smoke of weed. I cough a little because of the smoke and ask her again.

"I wanted to know how and what you guys work, and how much is going to be my share," I said too but she let out another puff on my face and I bent towards her to make her look right into my face. "It's the right of a business partner I guess" I arched my brow while saying and she smiled. She stands up on her feet and I realize she is taller than me. 

"Follow me, Miss Meyers," she said and I stood up and followed her before stepping out I checked my mom's blade hairpin in my hair that I secured in a bun and stepped out. I should be on my guard.

She took me through the whole aisle of that cave that was packed with drunk people, some of them were even teens drunk, wasted, and lost. As if they are selling gold. I wanted to know what kind of drug they are smuggling and how this process got to be passed through under George Kingston's sight, it has to. The cave was deep and large as if it was made for this kind of thing. As soon as we passed through the hurdle of people she took a right turn and there was a wooden door with two men standing on guard on both sides. She opened the door and kept walking, it was completely dark when she entered and I saw her vanish into the darkness. I followed her footsteps voice and entered that dark room, suddenly I felt chills, wherever I was it was cold. I stopped in the middle when her footsteps voice stopped coming. 

A minute of silence and a block of air is what I felt. This place has to be a basement, I can tell from the environment. I've always been right in my instincts.

"Gesha?" I called her and suddenly the room lighted up in a circle. It was a large basement. As I was right in my call. I moved into a circle and saw so many shoes, men and women. They were branded one of those was limited editions. Right to left there were only shoes. That basement was connected with that mansion I stopped at the front, it's huge all covered with shoes placed on shelves. She walked in front of me and took one of the shoes. She held up a sleek black shoe, no different from a standard pair of designer heels at first glance. "You see," she began, tapping the toe of the shoe, "this isn’t just any shoe. With a quick twist of the heel, the sole clicked open, revealing a hidden compartment. Inside, there was a glossy white powder meticulously wrapped in layers of cellophane. "Underneath, that’s where the real business lies. The sole is made from recycled carbon, which keeps the scent down. Dogs can’t pick it up, not unless they’re trained on this specific stuff." She smirked a hint of pride in her voice. "And that? That’s not your average cocaine. It’s a synthetic derivative. Stronger, more potent, and completely undetectable in standard tests. That can not be the Synapse that my father invented. "One hit, and the users think they’ve got x-ray vision" she goes on. Asking a question of how they were not ever caught means smashing your head into a wall because the faces I saw back there in that cave were not very unfamiliar.

I walked over to the shelves and mimicked her actions, feeling that same powder on my sweaty palm. The humidity and lack of air in the cave had me sweating. All I wanted was a sample of that powder to test in my lab and uncover its secrets.

“This is truly remarkable,” I said, placing the object back on the shelf.

“And about the share…” she trailed off, hearing footsteps fading away. But I was still curious about those shoes and their brand.

“Everything else will be discussed once you sign this paper. Then my work here will be complete,” she said, stepping into my view. As I turned, she held out a document that she had been holding the whole time. I took the paper and began to read—it was a legal document.

“If I sign this, I’ll officially be one of you?” I asked, flashing a sarcastic smile. She smiled back.

“Not yet. You’ll be one of us once you get this.” She pointed to a tattoo of a crown on her wrist.

“A tattoo? That’s all?” I scoffed.

“It’s not just a tattoo,” she replied. I leaned in for a closer look as she held her hand in the air. It wasn’t inked—it was a burn mark in the shape of a crown. I remembered Ray had one, too, though his was on his left thumb.

She handed me a pen. “But once you sign, there will be no more secrets,” she said, smiling that cold, unsettling smile. I glanced down at the paper and smirked back.

“Like Miller’s?” I asked sarcastically as I lowered the pen to sign.

Her voice turned rough as she replied, “No one outside knows that.” I looked up to see her piercing gaze, sharp as a hawk’s.

“Who the hell are you?” she demanded, and I dropped the paper.

In the blink of an eye, I saw her knife coming toward me. My reflexes made me raised my hands to block it and kicked her in the stomach. I ran toward the door of the basement that connects to the mansion, but suddenly, all the lights went out. The entire basement was covered in darkness, leaving me blind. Shit! Shit!!!

“You're not leaving until you tell me, Doctor Meyers,” her voice echoed from the shadows, followed by an evil laugh. She knew about me but didn’t understand why I was there. My stupid mouth had given her that doubt. But I wasn’t dying here—not today.

“You can’t even fight fair and want to know why I came here?” I chuckled, but then I felt a sharp slice as her blade cut through my arm. A moan of pain slipped from my lips, and I heard her laughter again in the pitch black. 

Shit, April! Get it together—that’s what you trained for. I raised my hand and pulled the hairpin from my hair, letting my strands fall free. It was the only weapon I had right now. I needed to focus!

I concentrated on her breathing, trying to track her movements. How could she be so silent in heels? 

“We're trained to see in the dark... Are you going to kill me with that beautiful accessory?” she taunted, laughing. I’d show her just how beautiful it really was. I still feel an ache in my arm, the cut was too deep. I felt a hint of minty breath on my left and swung the hairpin at her face level, i did observed her height. 

A loud scream echoed through the air, and I dashed toward the door, still in the dark. I remembered the stairs I had seen earlier and ran fast, hearing her footsteps close behind. I slammed the door to the basement and burst into the large dining area. I kept running, but suddenly a kick in my back and had me fall hard to the floor. 

She lunged at me, but I dodged her knife attack and grabbed a nearby chair, throwing it at her. She blocked it with her arm, and the chair shattered. Then she hurled her knife across the table, aiming for my head. I ducked beneath the table just in time. 

Does she break the chair on her arm? My throat felt like I’d swallowed cactuses. I glanced toward the exit. I had to run! I scanned the room for her, but she was nowhere to be seen. 

Then, out of nowhere, another kick landed squarely on my face. I felt my lip burst, and blood filled my mouth.

She laughed like she was drunk. “For cutting my face, bitch!” she screamed, Launching another attack. This time, I dodged and blocked her leg with my hands, pulling her to the ground. I sat on her chest and threw as many punches as I could, but she quickly wrapped her legs around my neck and flipped us over, now sitting on top of me. She unleashed a barrage of punches. 

I fell onto my back, struggling to breathe with blood pooling in my mouth. I spat it out and spotted my hairpin a short distance away. I immediately crawled toward it, but she kicked me hard in the stomach again, sending me crashing back down with a scream of pain. 

She stood over me, positioned herself between my legs, and pulled a gun from behind her. I couldn’t let her load it. I stabbed the blade of my hairpin deep into her thigh. She screamed and tried to move, but I yanked the blade down, slicing her ankle. 

She fell beside me, wailing. “Fuck!!!” she screamed, reaching for her gun as I panted in pain from her kicks. I snatched the gun and loaded it, pointing it at her.

“Kill me!!” she screamed. “Kill me, you bitch!” She laughed maniacally, but killing anyone other than their godfather wasn’t part of my plan. I threw the gun far from her reach and bolted toward the main door.

As soon as I stepped outside, a blinding light pierced my eyes, with a loud horn. Someone rushed toward me in a flash.

“Giesha, stop!!!” a voice screamed from behind the light. It was Ray. I turned just in time to see Giesha holding the gun. I shouldn’t have left. 

A deafening gunshot rang out, and for a moment, all I saw was white in front of my eyes. 

What was I thinking, showing mercy to the enemy?