THE BLACK CROWN SERIES: The Angel of the Underworld (Book 1)

2084 Angel is 89 years old.

As I sit here in my wheelchair with a blanket over my legs, I watch my family with tears in my eyes, who are around me, my two sons with their wives and their own little families. This day always made me cry; we were all gathered around the fireplace in the big living room of my husband’s estate. After my husband, Luca D’Amore, passed away with lung cancer, he left the family business to our eldest son, Marco. Every time I look at Marco, I see Luca.

“Grandma, why are you crying?” I look over to see my granddaughter Angela kneeling beside me, taking my hand in hers.

“Just missing your grandfather, dear” I smile softly, and I wipe the tear that slid down my cheek. My other granddaughter, Angela’s sister, Stella, walks into the room holding our family's photo album.

“Here, grandma”, Stella says as she smiles lying it softly on my lap.

“Please tell us the story of how you and granddad met,” she asks as I look over to Marco, who gives me a nod, saying that it was okay. Since the littler kids were outside playing, I breathed in as I flipped open the book. I came across the very first photo... our wedding photo.

I took a few minutes just staring at the man that I fell in love with. “When I first met your grandfather, I was 19 years old, so this is going back 70 years ago now... Well, I thought he was the most self-centred, jackass, son of a bitch I had ever met.”

“Mother,” Both of my sons warn me.

“What is true, way before you, my darling boys came along, he was awful, but that didn’t stop me from loving him though.” I say before I turn back to look at the photo. “Anyway, like I was saying I was 19 years old, and I didn’t go to college. My parents weren’t my real parents because they had died in a car crash making me lose my memory, I couldn’t afford to pay for college, so I got myself a job. I was working in a club that was owned by a man whose name was Stefano. The club was more of a lounge where people would come to watch the girl sing and dance, it was more of a burlesque club. I never did any of that I was one of the waitresses/ bar maids....”

2014 Angel is 19 years old.

“Angel please take this to Stefano in the office.” Charlotte another bar maids says as she pulled a tray of bourbon with three glasses towards me. “When you come back you can go on your break.” She gives me a soft smile. I take the tray leaning it on my forearm as I hold the other side walking to Stefano’s office. When I got there, I knock on the door. I was about to open the door, but someone had beaten me to it.

“Hello princess” says a man in a black business suit that I have never seen before, I smile softly as I walk in after he steps away from the door smirking at me as he eyed me up and down. I place the glasses and the bottle of bourbon on the desk.

“Is there anything else I can get you fellas?” I look at the three men that were in the room, one looking familiar but I didn’t worry so much about it.

“No love. That will be all” Stefano says in his dirty husky voice that always makes me shiver down my body, as he slaps me on the ass. I bite my tongue nodding as I leave with the tray in my hands, I don’t make any more eye contact as I walk out. I make it back to the bar leaving the tray on the counter, I walk to the staff locker room. I grab my last cigarette out of my bag with a lighter I push the back door open once I step outside in the dead of night as I lean against a wall, I hear thunder rumble up in the sky as I lit the cigarette. I sighed as I run a hand through my hair, as I inhale the nicotine and blew out the smoke. It was already 10pm as I check my phone for the time I had to stay here till closing. I was working a double shift since one of the other girls wasn’t able to make it.

It was freezing being out here since the waitress’s outfit was booty shorts and a corset that hugged tight against my body everyone else wore high heels and I wore boots, but I needed to be out here to clear my head and this cigarette was helping me calm my nerves. My break was nearly over when it started to rain really heavy, I flicked the cigarette in the ally way near the dumpster. I was about to walk inside when I hear people yelling behind the wall that I was leaning against.

“Please... Please don’t. I can get your money in a few days...” I heard someone beg, I pecked behind the wall to looked at who it was, I immediately saw the men that Stefano had in his office and Stefano was kneeling on the wet ground.

“You know boss told you to make it double this week and you have nothing.” one of the men says as the other holds a gun just in front of Stefano.

“Please don’t...” Stefano begs again as I watch it horror.

“You know this is for your protection. You pay us to keep you and your company safe... So, the boss told us to do this if you came up with nothing.”

“No no no no please I-I can get...” Stefano starts to say as the guy nods to the guy holding the gun just as the thunder rumbled in the sky the rain got heavier and that’s when I heard the BANG!

I had to cover my mouth so I couldn’t scream, I was walking backwards when my body slammed into the dumpster making a loud bang, I mentally slapped myself.

“What was that?!” I heard one of the men that killed Stefano yell out as I was crutched down behind the dirty dumpster, so I wasn’t able to be seen. I heard them walk around it I was soaked since the rain was coming down as heavy but that didn’t stop them from hearing my phone ring, I quickly turned it off. I heard someone’s shoes get closer I looked up to see the same guy that opened the door for me in Stefano’s office “Well hello princess” smirking down at me. I try to run past him but of course that didn’t work he grabbed my hair pulling me back to him flat against his chest, I gasped as I claw at his hands in my hair digging my nails into him, but he still didn’t let me go.

“Get the fuck off me!” I yell out at him.

“Oh, the mouth on this one” He chuckled as the other guy who looked familiar walks over to me with an angry look on his face.

“What did you see?” he asks.

“I’m not saying shit to you, now get the fuck off me!” I yell in his face; he slaps me in the face. As my head swings to the side, I bite my lip, so I don’t scream out in pain. I turn my head back to them and glare at them.

“I’m not going to ask you again, sweetheart.” He says as he looked deep into my eyes, but I stay silent, and I did a thing that I would never do unless I was so pissed off. I spit in his face; I watched it land right on his right eyes and drip down. He gave me the evilest look I have ever seen then the next thing I knew he punched me right in the face. The other guy let go of my hair and I fell to the floor hitting my side of the head the last thing I saw was them picking me up and walking to a black van, they threw me in the back.