Lady Elegance

III. Read My Mind

Astrid didn't like parties. She didn't like being looked at. But if you are the daughter of a wealthy businessman, people seem to be drawn to you.

When Astrid looked out her window, she could already see the paparazzi desperately trying to take pictures of all the A-list stars.

Astrid put her silver earrings in, which cost more than most people's homes, and rolled her eyes. Astrid had to look good when she had to wear dresses and other fancy clothes.

Shouldn't you go big or go home?

Astrid sometimes wished she had been born into a different family, one whose life didn't make the front cover of every magazine in New York.

That day, hundreds of people, reporters, and paparazzi waited in line outside the airport to see the smart millionaire and her wayward son.

Astrid and Estela were usually in the background, but people would sometimes ask them things like, "Are you pregnant?" or "Are you dating anyone right now?" and, of course, "What's the secret to your body?"

Astrid was angry by these questions, so when they crossed the line, she made sure to get their names by answering their questions.

They didn't know it yet, but they had just put themselves on 'Lady Eleganc's list of people to kill. By morning, they'd be dead, and the murderer's face would be on the front cover of a newspaper story about how they were killed.

Astrid hated being in the limelight. She sometimes liked it, the money almost never ran out, and there were plenty of good-looking one-night stands waiting at her door.

But she hadn't slept with anyone in a while. She was getting tired of it.

It was hard for her to keep her secret hidden and sleep with hot guys who were very strong.

She thought she would have to put her s*x life on hold. She couldn't exactly yell across the dinner table, "I'm an assassin and I've killed hundreds of people!"

The only bad thing about being famous was that she always had to wear a full mask. Astrid couldn't even go shopping without a wig, especially since she was looking for holsters and Glock 17s.

She took a long breath out to try to calm down and then looked at herself in the mirror. The black dress hugged all of her curves in just the right places to show off her big, round breasts.

Astrid didn't like dresses, but if she had to pick, this one would be her best.

Astrid finished off her look by putting on a gold band that someone important to her had given her. Last but not least, she put on her Louis Vuitton shoes. Somewhere in her outfit, she had to wear her signature red.

"Are you ready—wow, what the heck happened to you?" Amara asked with wide eyes as she walked into the room.

Astrid said, "Thanks, Mara, that means a lot" in a sarcastic way as she walked toward the door.

Amara told her, "You look lovely, Rune," and gave her a hug, but Astrid didn't return it. She disliked hugs.

Astrid said, "Thank you, and so do you, Mar," with her arms out to the side as Amara continued to hug her.

Astrid said in a serious voice, "But if you don't let go of me in 3 seconds, I will personally gouge out your eyes and throw you out of that window." This made Amara pull away from the hug and roll her eyes.

"You know you love me, so you'd never do that," said Amara, looking in the mirror again.

Astrid asked, "Do you want to test that theory?" Amara raised her hands, and they both started laughing.

"Fottuto inferno (f*****g hell), you are a psychopath," Amara laughed, happily unaware of the signs that she was, in fact, a psychopath.

"You know you love me," Astrid said, mimicking what Amara had said. She strutted up to the door and linked her arm with Amara's as she walked out.

Amara whisper-shouted in Astrid's ear, "It's like being fed to the f*****g sharks down there," as she moved toward the big doors that led to the party.

Astrid whisper-yelled back, "You never know, there might be a hot one you can f**k tonight." Amara quickly slapped her on the arm and laughed out loud.

As the two women in their fancy gowns opened the doors, everyone turned to look at them. Astrid had to stop laughing.

Both of them kept walking in, unfazed. Astrid took their arms apart to grab a glass of champagne, which she drank all at once.

But right next to her, Amara was taking a serious-looking man's clothes off with her eyes, which made Astrid snort a little.

A big bang went off behind them, and a group of reporters and bright cameras came into their line of sight. They put their hands over their eyes to get used to what they were seeing.

"Who's your date for tonight?"

"Are the two of you dating?"

"What are your plans for your job?"

"Whose clothes are you wearing?"

Astrid was being bombarded with questions from many reporters, and Amara just stood there with wide eyes. She had never seen a fight between reporters before, and it was funny to see.

Astrid joked, "This is my beautiful girlfriend. She's pretty, don't you think?" She looked at Amara, whose lip was quivering as she tried not to laugh.

"But if you don't leave this property right now, I'll-" Astrid started to say something harsh, but they were pulled away by security and a strong hand grabbed her arm.

Astrid hissed, "Hey, what the f**k?" because they were holding Jago's arm, which had been hurt earlier.

"You can't go make a scene like that; we don't want our business to get out to people outside the circle," Jago yelled, throwing her into the room behind the bar.

Astrid said, "Whoa, slow down, big man," but Jago didn't laugh. He pushed Astrid against a table and put his hands on either side of her, pinning her.

"Do you realize that there are hundreds of people in the home of the f*****g Mafia? We can't put ideas in people's heads so they go snooping," Jago spat at her, getting dangerously close to her as Astrid tried to lean back to avoid him, but to no avail. Jago was unavoidable.

Astrid started to say, "That sounds like your problem, so if you don't mind-" but Jago slammed his fist on the table next to her, shocking her.

"Shut your mouth before I cut your throat," Jago told Astrid as his lips briefly touched hers and he stared at her with pure hate in his eyes.

But even though she made him very angry, the thing between his legs kept beating around her. What the heck did this girl do to him?

Astrid spat at him and leaned in closer as she said, "You really think I'm dumb enough to tell everyone about our business."

the tops of their heads.

"There is no 'our,' and there never will be," Jago hissed, making Astrid lean back and grin.

Astrid told him, with her head tilted and a sick smile on her face, "Be careful how you talk to me. I can get Maude's money out as fast as it went in."

"You wouldn't dare," Jago sneered, his black muscles showing through his white dress shirt.

Astrid c****d her head to the side and asked, "Is that a challenge?" She did this with a smile on her face to show that she didn't mean any harm.

"It's a threat!" Jago yelled, and they were so close together that there was no room between them.

"Then you can count me as disappointed," Astrid teased, looking with nothing but hate into Jago's green eyes.

But Astrid couldn't help but feel the lace between her legs getting wetter, even though she hated him. She thought, "To hell with you, Jago Marfori."

"I don't think you're too upset, though, principessa," Jago said with a smirk as he moved toward her ear and brushed his bottom lip against her neck.

Astrid asked, "What do you mean?" while trying to hide the fact that she was squeezing her legs together to try to relax.

Jago whispered in her ear, "Don't lie to me, bellissima (beautiful)," in a voice so deep that it sent shivers down Astrid's spine.

Jago ran his finger along her chin and down to the nape of her neck with a smirk on his face. Astrid got chills where he touched her.

Jago grabbed something from the back of her neck, which made her reach back to see what he had. Astrid didn't wear chains, so it couldn't be a piece of jewelry. She didn't have anything to show off.

"You don't know me, love," Jago teased, brushing his teeth against her earring, which made her bite her bottom lip.

Astrid said, "What the-" just as Jago pulled his head away from her ear and held something in his hand.

Astrid said, "You son of a w***e," then took the chip from his hand and looked at it. It was a new product made by her brother.

Astrid yelled, "You read my mind!" as she stood up straight and walked right up to Jago. She gave him a mean look as she did so.

"Do I turn you on, my love?" Jago asked as he cupped her face and brushed her bottom lip with his hand.

"Sorry, but self-centered jerks aren't one of my many fetishes," Astrid said, her eyes entering his as his eyes turned dark and sly.

"Are you sure about that, amore?" Jago asked as he moved closer to her and let his hand move down to her legs, rubbing them gently.

Astrid said, "Deadly," but was cut off by her own gasp as Jago hit her behind. She could already feel the red mark that would show up later.

"I told you not to lie to me," Jago said to Astrid, smirking as he looked into her green eyes.

Astrid asked, "Who says you're not the liar?" as she stroked his collar and put her arms around his neck. She pulled on his neck with the same chip in her hand and a smirk on her face.

"You know, if you weren't a murderous, psychotic b***h, you'd make a good actress," Jago joked, trying to hide the impressed grin that was about to cover his face.

Astrid played with him by leaning toward his ear and putting her lips on a sensitive part of his neck. She asked, "Do I turn you on?" Jago tried not to groan.

Astrid whispered sweetly into his ear, "Do I make you hard just by thinking about me?" She let her teeth brush against his earlobe.

Astrid let her hand move down his chest as she talked. She was surprised by how hard his abs were, but her face didn't show it.

"Could ask you the same," Jago said in a low, dark voice as Astrid's hand touched his crotch. His half-erect p***s was now on high alert.

Astrid said, "Don't avoid the question," bending back so that their faces were only a few inches apart. She started rubbing him through his boxers in a slow way that made him groan.

Astrid knew that her s****l charm was the only thing that could get his attention away from her. It worked for all of the men she was after, and even for some of the women. She didn't think he would be so easy, but she couldn't blame him, because it was hard to refuse.

Astrid stopped petting him all of a sudden, grabbed him by the collar, and threw him onto the nearest table. Before he could try to move, Astrid took her knife out of her holster and held it to his neck.

Jago asked Maude, "You really are one of a kind, aren't you?" as Astrid put more pressure on his neck and warm blood started to run down it.

"Or maybe I'm just better than you, Marfori. Have you ever thought of that?" Astrid grinned, still holding the knife to his neck.

"What would dear little Arabella think of this? No one in this house would forgive you for what you're about to do, would they?" Jago teased, repeating what Astrid had said to him in the same situation.

Astrid knew she had shown him how weak she was. Her relatives. Astrid would be scared for them now that they were living under the same roof, but she had stopped being afraid years ago.

Astrid spat at Marfori, "Next time, this knife is going through your heart," and she pulled the knife away. But she couldn't just let him go without saying anything, could she?

"You really are a f*****g p***y, aren't you?" Jago said with a sneer as he stood up and moved toward Astrid. But before he could make his first hit, Astrid swung the knife at his left leg, making him groan in pain.

"What the f**k was that for?" Jago yelled as Astrid threw him to the ground and landed on top of him. He was holding his thigh.

Astrid spat at him, "Next time I'm on top of you, I'll be standing over your dead f*****g body," and grabbed his arms to stop him from helping him.

Let's just say that Astrid and Jago would both be dead by now if looks could kill.

"f**k you, Astrid Maude," Jago swore as Astrid stood up and walked toward the door while putting her knife back in her belt.

Astrid said, "Oh, I know you'd love to," gave him a flirty smile, and then walked out the door.

⋆⋆⋆⋆⋆⋆⋆

As soon as Astrid walked in, she could smell the disgusting smell of middle-aged guys, expensive perfume, and champagne.

As Estela walked over to her sister, she said, "There you are," which made her feel better. With one hand, she held a glass of champagne and gave Astrid a glass of whiskey.

Astrid joked, "Miss me already, Stel?" But Estela wrinkled her brows when she saw Astrid's red cheeks and stiff body language.

"Well, mom is going to make an announcement with Enz in a minute, but I was just coming to find you," Estela said, her voice trailing off a bit when she noticed where Astrid had just come from.

Estela was confused as Astrid linked her arm with hers and led her out of the room and into the main area. "What were you doing in there?" she asked.

Astrid told her, "Oh, nothing. I'm just looking for some stronger stuff." She drank the whiskey in one gulp; it was going to be a long night.

Estela asked, "No luck?" Astrid nodded and put her glass on a tray that the waiters were bringing around that was empty. Astrid grabbed a martini and threw the olive into a trash can as another car went by. Those were poisonous.

Estela said, "Okay, Rune, slow down and save some for me," as Astrid put down her drink and wished she could really get drunk from two drinks.

Astrid started to say, "Sorry, I can't do that," but someone grabbed her arm, shocking her. Astrid turned around right away, expecting to see Jago, but he wasn't there because he wasn't strong enough.

"Auntie Rune, Jago said he needed help with something," Arabella said. Behind her stood a boy about her age who looked like he was about to throw up.

Astrid was confused and asked, "Jago? Who's Jago?" Astrid thought at first that it was one of Arabella's made-up friends, but Arabella pointed to a person in the corner of the room.

Someone was talking to Jago Marfori, whose face was now serious, so Astrid knew it couldn't be about their fight earlier. Even though he was giving Astrid a murderous look, she couldn't help but laugh. She was definitely calling herself that.

When she laughed out loud, Jago narrowed his eyes and rubbed his chin. He then ran out of the room, stumbling through a door next to him.

Astrid mumbled, "I wonder what he wants," and rolled her eyes as she turned to look at the makeshift stage, where her mother and brother were coming out from behind a side curtain.

Estela whispered to her, "You'll have to wait; it's showtime," as Astrid tried to look excited for her brother's sake.

Let the suckage start.