Rosaline’s satin black hair falls in waves over her shoulders. Her satin red dress is set against her dark, tanned skin making my cock even harder.

Her lips wrap around my cock, and she’s sucking like there’s no tomorrow.

I may not be in love with this girl, but I feel responsible for her.

She fell in love with a Montague and was banished for life to our side. Then, the guy ditched her, and she’s been on my mind ever since.

I have a soft spot for women who are in trouble.

And that’s all Rosaline is...trouble. She has a pretty serious drug problem, and she’s always trying to escape reality. But in these moments when she’s sucking my cock or when I’m fucking her in the back office of the club, I can tell she comes alive.

I’m like her damn lifeline, keeping her afloat in this cold, harsh world.

Maybe I like her because she’s similar to me. She’s been hardened by a life of drugs and abandonment.

I’ve become a cold, hard killer—because that’s what being a Montague means.

“Yes, baby—fuck. I’m getting so close to spraying my cum all over your mouth and face. Do you want to drink my cum, slut?”

She moans in recognition. She loves this.

She slides her tongue along my cock, and I close my eyes as I sink into her ever deeper.

She takes it like a pro, she always does. I already made her come, twice over my desk.

It doesn’t take much because she’s always antsy for me, on high alert. I pay for everything and make sure she’s well taken care of. I know she needs help, the poor girl.

Now that I know it’s my turn, now that she’s had her fill, I fuck her mouth harder and faster. The idea of her drinking down my hot cum is enough to put me right over the edge.

I grab her hair and pull her in closer to me.

“Fuuuuck, Rosaline,” I say through gritted teeth as I come hard. “You’re so fucking good at that.”

She drinks down all of my cum, not wanting to waste a drop.

Then, she peers up at me with wild eyes and says, “Thank you, Tristan.”

I help her up just as Merc and Benny are walking in.

They’re my cousins. They’re used to seeing me get this kind of handling from Rosaline.

“I see you’re getting the royal fucking treatment,” Merc says.

“Indeed I am,” I say zipping up.

Then I slip some money into Rosaline’s bra.

Not because she’s a whore but because I want to. It makes me feel good to give her money and to let her know that she’s okay. Despite all of her problems, I’m here for her.

“Thanks, baby. You take such good care of me, Tristan. Hey, do you want to bump of cocaine? I know a guy in the club.”

I shake my head no. My answer is always no to this question. Like I said, she’s pretty messed up—but that’s her own burden to bear.

All I can do is be a support system for her. She deserves at least fucking that.

“You guys interested?” she says to Merc and Benny.

Benny takes pity on her, I can tell.

He says, “No, Rosaline, we’re good. You be careful out there. Take care of yourself.”

She smiles at him, but what he’s saying doesn’t exactly register. She skips out to join the other club-goers, and I think it’s sad; this is her life.

Clubbing every night, sleeping all day...no purpose, no family. She’s lost.

But she’s not to blame.

It’s the damn war with the Capulets, our rival family, the enemy. It’s always ongoing, the fighting, the battles. And once you’re in, there’s no escape.

Benny’s a good guy. He’s like the good angel on my shoulder always telling me the right thing to do when I need advice. And Merc, well, Merc is the angel of vice and depravity.

He encourages me to do very bad things, my partner in crime, so to speak.

We’re all hardened criminals by now. And yet these guys, my cousins, they’ve been with me since the beginning, each of us coming from our relative corners of the Montague kingdom.

We fucking run this town, by crime and underground business. We keep a low profile, the biggest crime family in town, the mafia. And yet, we’re at the tip of everyone’s tongue.

Infamy comes at a price.

It means you can’t hide and that you must stay loyal to your family.

There’s no escaping this life; I’m resigned to it. And yet, I hate my fucking life—it’s absent of light and happiness and anything worth living for.

“I feel so fucking bad for Rosaline,” I say to them.

“Yeah, well, you’re nice to her Tristan,” Benny says. “And that counts for something.”

I think of Rosaline, sad little Rosaline.

She’s a victim in all of this, torn apart by the two warring families in town.

I go to the bar at the side of the office. It’s made of pure gold, like everything else in this fucking dark life of mine. Money is everywhere, but the truth is absent.

I live the high life in every way that matters except for one thing...love.

I don’t know it and wouldn’t recognize it if it hit me in the face.

I pour myself a heavy drink of bourbon and take it down in one gulp. Being the gentleman that I am, I offer it to my cousins. They both partake with me and then we get down to business.

“So what’s going on tonight you guys? How’s business?” I ask.

Merc has a fire in his eyes, and I wonder why. What’s got this guy so excited?

“Come on, tell me. I can see something’s up.”

I can’t wait to know what kind of antics we’ll get up to tonight.

These are my guys, and we always hit the town late and do all manner of destructive things in the city. Sometimes, we have to commit crimes. Sometimes we just hang out and find new spots to pick up women.

It all flows into one big bad dream. Sure, I’ve become jaded, but you would, too, if you had to kill innocent people for blood money.

Once you’ve seen death come for so many people at your own hands, well, the meaning of life ceases to matter...it’s all blood, and I just wait for the day when sweet death will take my own soul to somewhere else, somewhere beyond all this fucking crime.

My family has turned me into a killing machine, a monster, so I don’t ever expect to have a normal happy life.

“Oh, something is definitely up,” Benny says.

I look at him, interested. “I’m all yours.”

“There’s a Capulet party of sorts,” Merc says.

“A party? What’s so great about that? They party nearly every weekend,” I say.

Merc has a devilish look on his face. I can tell he’s enjoying keeping me in suspense.

“It’s not just that Tristan. It’s a big party. The Capulet princess is getting married to the Governor. And tonight is when the announcement’s being made.”

I look at him stunned.

An engagement party? Our greatest enemy is about to make their greatest move.

The Capulets have been in the pocket of the Governor for some time now and that gives them an edge. That’s how they get all their dirty deeds done in this town. It would be my ultimate joy to stop that marriage, to stop their flow of connections to that political monster.

I look at my cousins and say, “You’re kidding me, right? This has to play to our advantage. Are you guys thinking what I’m thinking?”

They nod.

Merc says, “Of course.”

“So we’re gonna crash the party then,” I say, pulling my crisp white shirt on.

Suddenly, my night is looking a lot better. Crashing a Capulet party is one of my favorite things to do. The security’s so tight at these affairs that it feels good just getting in the door.

Besides, I always know what the fuck I’m doing. Once I’m in, I like to spy on them and to make my rounds with their people with no one the wiser.

But tonight is different—the princess will be there.

I’ve heard about her, but I’ve never seen her. And to tell you the truth, I’m less interested in her than I am in getting to know the Governor.

I need to see what kind of guy this is and why he has such power.

Benny says, “Merc’s excited, but I don’t want to go. I’m so sick of this fucking world, this life. Can’t it be over already? Haven’t enough people died?”

Benny...he’s always complaining about the same thing.

He hates crime, and he hates killing. In truth, I do, too.

But I’m so jaded by it all that I now can’t imagine living any other way.

“Come on, Benny,” I say. “If we play this right tonight, if we find some way to mess up their little arrangement with the Governor, then all of this might be over quicker than you think.”

Merc agrees. “The Capulets have the Governor, and that means they win. They can get away with anything in this town because of that connection. If the Governor’s on their side, then so are the police and so is everybody that matters. We have to stop that marriage.”

I agree with Merc, but I don’t understand how it’s going to get done.

I don’t see how we can stop the marriage without a couple of murders involved.

“Well, let’s go check out the scene,” I say.

Benny smirks, and I look at him.

“What is it?”

“Well, you’re not gonna like this part. It’s a masquerade ball.”

I frown.

I don’t want to have to wear a fucking mask.

What am I, a girl? Is this Halloween?

“Are you serious?” I ask.

He laughs and says, “Yes, we’re gonna have to stop by a damn costume store or something.”

“Fine.”

We leave Club Vapor, and as I walk through the throes of people, everyone looks my way. They know who I am.

Tristan Montague.

This is the hottest underground club in town. It’s dark and chic, and if you want to let loose and engage in a degeneracy, this is the place for you.

We cut through the crowd and heads turn.

I don’t mind. They know who I am, and they know not to mess with me.

We go outside to my waiting limousine, get in, and go back home to change into our tuxedos. It’s just that kind of affair I can tell already.

And it’s gonna be a wild fucking night. I can tell that, too. It’s in the air.

In the back of my mind, I’m thinking about the girl.

Isobel Capulet.

I’ve heard about her over and over again. She’s been a virtual prisoner inside the Capulet fortress. They don’t let her out of there for even a second.

Barely anybody has seen her, only heard of her.

I wonder what she’s like.