Ally's heart, beyond damaged... torn ruthless from all she had witnessed during her time in the mafia.

She was trained to disassociate emotionally from the killings, but she didn't get the same adrenaline rush that her fellow family members got. But she still did it, because it's simply a 'task' assigned to her. She hated the look in every victim's eyes before the bullet silenced them forever. She didn't want to fail her boss as she felt like it was the least she could do for being accepted into the family.

Tonight was routine. She had made a mess, but she knew that the person she needed was already on their way. Thanks to a reliable recommendation, this certain man had been hired by the family for all janitor needs.

She stepped away from the lifeless body in front of her and waited a while, just until she could see the blinding headlights in the distance. "At 4 in the morning..." He looked disappointed as he grabbed a body bag from the back of his car plus some other cleaning supplies. "It had to be done. You know I never miss an assignment," she responded quietly as she rubbed her tired eyes. Lack of sleep had finally caught up to her and she was feeling more exhausted than ever, physically and mentally.

"Sleep is important, please get some. You look worse each time I see ya."

Ally smiled at his genuine concern, but like always she would shrug it off and tell herself that she'd deal with it later. She could tell though from his slow and heavy grunts that he was slightly irritated. "Okay fine, I'll do some self care today. I promise." She spoke her goodbyes to him and hopped into her little car. When she caught a glimpse of herself in the rearview mirror she cringed before driving away into the early morning.

***

A promise was a promise and she showed up to work feeling cheery and joyful. Nothing like a warm bath and a protein-packed breakfast. But as the day went on, she could feel the four walls of her office slowly trapping herself in. She tapped her feet under the desk and fidgeted with the pen in her hand, waiting for the next assignment. There was an old friend coming into town and wanted to get her tasks done before setting up an appointment to meet.

She could hear some heavy footsteps approaching her door. She straightened out her slacks. Minutes later she was out the door to fulfil her next drug deal. The usual man she came to see wasn't available and so she was a little confused at first, but was shortly led to the back office where she began the deal. The new guy had an unsettling presence and she prayed in her head for it all to finish faster.

It was lunch time when she finished and she could almost feel a pimple growing on her chin from all the panic she had endured at the drug deal. But finally, it was time to set up the necessary appointment. He was not just a friend, but she recommended him to the family for business purposes. A diamond dealer named Saidoff. "Ally." He greeted her in an excited tone as his painted nails rested on the small of her back as they hugged. He lived.... a colourful life. She never asked him about his sexual orientation. She didn't need to.

"Sai!" She blew him an air kiss and followed him into the comfort of his grand mansion. He was known as royalty around some parts of the world, but in New York he was simply a friend. "Now please tell me you're not just here to make a fortune on my jewellery and actually want to spend some time with me? We could drink champagne, play some music..." He smiled charmingly. She engaged in conversation with him for a little while longer about old times and the present. Not long after she began to gawk at the emeralds. She stood at attention as she watched the cut stones fall from its velvet bag, picking up the magnifying glass and analysing under the light. An hour, two hours came by and she was finished though it felt like only a second as she was definitely having fun playing with the diamonds.

***

She made a quick stop to the jazz lounge near the Titans tower and sipped on her cocktail as she reminisced about her childhood. She had it all now, an important position in the family, fresh bills to blow and much more. But nothing at that moment could never amount to how she felt as a child, playing in the backyard with not a care in the world and no clue that she would dive into the dangerous world of the mafia.

She unbuttoned the top button of her shirt letting her chest be exposed to the cool air. She focused on the jazz music and the faces of people nearby enjoying it. A couple, enjoying each other’s company caught her attention and she didn’t even realize that she had been staring for a good few minutes. They danced like no one was watching them. Her heart tightened as she only hoped that she could be that one day.

When her time at the lounge was over she stepped outside and suddenly felt a pair of eyes following her every move to her car. Well shit, now she really couldn’t go home. Ally’s eyes travelled sharply across the street to a man dressed in all black but couldn’t make out the face as his had shielded his eyes. She was a little tipsy though and felt no worry in calling out his name, but just as she opened her mouth the man disappeared around the corner.

Weird.

She stared down at her heels that were seconds away from breaking, sighing miserably. “Maybe just seeing things,” she said to herself. At home she was finally able to break free from her corporate clothes and she rested her legs up on the couch calling it a night.

When Ally woke up one early morning, she was greeted by the bright sun outside that threatened to seep through the slightly open curtains. She furiously rubbed her eyes, stretching every bone in her body before hopping out of bed eager to cook herself a big breakfast. She was looking forward to the events that would happen that day because after planning for so long she finally had gained the money to renovate her home. It was a tough decision between a mini bar or grand piano. When she had her caffeine fix, she took out her planning diary and looked over her notes.

She wanted white sofas, marble tiles and… bullet proof windows. It was an essential. As she ran her fingers over the pages, she was tempted to slip into a nap but realized that she had to run to the headquarters for an important family meeting. She left her scrambled eggs untouched on the counter, heading out the door fully dressed and ready.

At the entrance of the Titan headquarters stood Tommaso, head of the family’s security department. She greeted him with a friendly wave, giving a gesture that she couldn’t stay and chat which he seemed to understand judging by the brief nod he returned.

Ally stood at the entrance of the meeting room door. She sat down by the tables. News had spread quickly about a traitor within the family’s close connections. Apparently he had been ratted out as an informant for the New York police. Ally sighed in frustration and rubbed her temples. When she found out who it was, she wasn’t surprised because in retrospect she never fully trusted him. While Abramo was a great connection for supplying drugs, he had a big ego and was very opportunistic. When he got his hands on his first expensive car, he kept showing it off to everyone and it wasn’t a good look for him.

The truth was, he was dispensable, and he needed to be silenced with a bullet before this informant situation escalated.

Ally decided to visit her parents on Tuesday afternoon, which she preferred over other days because usually on that day she had not much meetings to prioritise and could just sit peacefully in silence with them without having to stress about the time. When it was time to head back to reality, she would have to go down a set of stairs that led to the car park. As she approached the car she saw a glimpse of her reflection. Her own dark, miserable face looking back at her.

If yesterday’s plans were to go ahead, she would have to first locate Abramo for there to even be a chance of success. One thing about him is that he loved to travel to different hotels, whether it was for business trips or casual getaways. And Ally, whose talents included spying-on-her-enemies-without-ever-getting-caught was an advantage to the situation. She was always hyper alert.

If she was quick enough to get to Abramo’s destination before him, she could set up her weaponry and equipment. She didn’t want to kill him though. What she really wanted was hard evidence that Abramo was a long time fraud. The next day the opportunity arose to hire a trusted friend to act as an assistant for him. In fact he had released a job opportunity for an assistant to handle his schedule and finances as his former helper resigned due to unforeseen circumstances in their personal life. If he wanted to inform the police about New York’s underground gangs, then best believe his organisation was going to get infiltrated ten times worse.

Fearful that the fake assistant act might not work, she decided to alleviate concern by going through multiple interviews for the perfect candidate who had actual experience in the role. A big success factor was also a previous or current association with the mafia. Ally scrambled down the Titan corridors and pushed her boss’ door wider and slipped inside his office to let him know about the plans for the next coming days.

***

The answer to Ally’s problem was close to being solved. Slowly but surely application forms started rushing in. No doubt. The pay given on completion of the job was highly sought after. From quarter to 3, she had noticed more applicants were entering the HQ.

One of the visitors, a soft-spoken French lady who Ally learned as time went on was named Antoinette, had spent most of her career travelling around the world for renowned mob bosses. Ally was intrigued and impressed by her job experience so she continued to pry into her personal life. She wanted to make sure this Antoinette could be trusted. At the end of the interview, Ally was beyond sure that she was the one.

“By the way, do you have experience with guns?”

Throughout her career Ally assumed that she at least might be aware of violence and mass destruction in the mob. She nodded. “My skill in weapons is how I was able to survive all those years of experience.”

Ally admired her strong determination and bravery. But it was something else that appealed to her most- on the outside Antoinette looked like an angel sent from heaven, reserved and wouldn’t hurt a fly. But her true self was wickedly clever and deceiving.

“Good, good.” Ally smiled in approval.

Having done well in the interview, Ally set up Antoinette an appointment to meet Abramo. “Don’t stress about it too much. You will do fine,” Ally comforted her as she gave Antoinette a confidential folder containing Abramo’s profile and important things to know. If Ally had been a little harsh lately to Antoinette, it was not because she intended to be mean. She just wanted to be straightforward about the potential challenges to be faced as an ‘assistant’ for a top mob boss. It had its perks, but more disadvantages. Ally finally had things in order. Ally shared her goodbyes with Antoinette as she hopped into a cab feeling slightly upset as she was just starting to get to know more about her. A friendship slowly starting to form.

As the taxi started to move away from the curb, Ally waved and smiled. “We’ll meet at the place we agreed at so that you can update me in person, but I’ll have a team of people on the lookout for you who will also send me information.” She managed to fit all those words in one breath as she watched Antoinette nod rapidly and her dainty hand waving out the window.

Meanwhile, Ally headed back into the Titan towers and hung around for a bit more before she decided to attend the building inspection. Beyond succeeding in the mafia business, Ally had her own plans to open up her own business in New York. After researching a business that might best fill a gap in the market, she decided to open up a café that would be serving food from breakfast to lunch. As she drove to the destination she was greeted by a neon sign outside the alleyway store next to the entrance. Everything seemed great. The interior needed a little bit of work done, but she knew that this was the one. Later that day she heard news about a recent takedown in LV and LA. Once out the door of the Titan towers she decided to pay her respects and attend funerals. Even people she did not know, she was thinking of their loved ones.

She did manage to get a little scoop on what happened, but that was it. It was an unfortunate circumstance but Ally tried to move forward with the day.

There were still killable targets running around, ‘durdens’ who had no other purpose than to be shot dead. It was a good training method and what made it even better was the remaining bodyguards. Ally headed to the shooting range and prepped herself for another night of training. She was mentally exhausted from the deaths she had witnessed. Ally would usually come there all the time to let off stress. As her eyes were shielded with protective glasses and ears covered with hearing protectors, she fired the bullet. It landed right in the middle of the fake target.

***

The locals of New York seemed to be delighted to discover a new alleyway café. Few weeks since the initial purchase of the building, Ally started renovations. She went back to the Titan towers for the big announcement that it was officially open for business.

As for her next arranged meeting with Antoinette, Ally was parked outside one of Abramo’s hotels where he was currently staying at. She was waiting for Antoinette to step out. Eyes glued to the entrance.