Taken By The Mafia Lord

"This is a bad idea," Arianna muttered to herself when she found herself on stage.

It had seemed easy when Victor planted this crazy idea in her head - having vengeance on Marcel in a harmless way - but now she was staring at the crowd that had all eyes on her, the confidence she mustered for the past hour faded instantly.

Victor got her the instant he announced Marcel would be attending this party for her sake - to keep an eye on her, mind you. He then deepened his bait, saying it was an opportunity to piss him off royally without getting a bullet lodged in between her head.

Dancing with the strippers.

Well, letting go, that was what Victor had called it. He went through her background and found out she had a thing for dancing. Marcel would be fucking mad when he sees her with the strippers and that was when Arianna knew she wanted to make hurt him.

She wanted him to bleed just the way her heart was bleeding at the loss of her freedom - and Elijah.

Victor saw through her anger and used her, not that she cared. It might be with the wrong crowd but Arianna needed to unwind as well.

It has been one crazy event after the other since she came here, Arianna needed a break and if her idea of fun would hurt Marcel even a scratch, then so be it.

Why was Victor helping her? Her self acclaimed male bestie said it was fun and he was paying back Marcel as well - by using her.

Not that she cared anyway, the both of them were benefiting from the deal. She would have the chance to de-stress and Victor would enjoy the fun he claimed it would create.

And that led to her wearing this cool little lingerie she wouldn't have dared to own until now. The lingerie was a flouncy, pleated metallic silver lamé bra with adjustable straps. It was paired with matching shorts that barely covered her ass cheeks.

It showed quite a cleavage as well and she wore knee-length stockings like the rest of the other dancers. Arianna looked hot and sexy as hell.

It had taken them an hour to go over the dance routine and Arianna had a great time with the girls who didn't complain even after the whole routine was changed to fit her needs.

Arianna wished there were parties like this every day so she could spend time with them. They made her miss her friend Mimi who would have helped her figure this out if she were here.

But as much as she missed her best friend, Arianna would never pull her into this mess. Mimi was better off without her if that would keep her away from harm's way. Marcel could make her do many things against her wishes if he had Mimi - because she would catch a grenade for her friend.

If only Arianna knew that the friend she was desperately trying to protect was already a big player in Marcel's court. Sigh.

The nervousness didn't lessen even when they took their position on stage, waiting for the song to begin. Arianna has this horrible thought that she would mess the dance up and fail miserably. And knowing that Marcel was out there somewhere watching her made it hard to concentrate, butterflies in her belly.

But then, somehow, her gaze traveled across the crowd that now had their attention trained on them, and her gaze connected with his.

Arianna let out a sharp breath when she saw the way Marcel was staring at her, it was intense - as if he wanted to rip her apart. Was he angry or horny? She couldn't exactly tell with the way he was devouring her with his stare.

However, Arianna's eyes suddenly rested on a woman that had her hand on his chest and a strange iciness washed over her.

Arianna finally realized why she had been nervous the whole time, it was because she had been wondering what Marcel would think of this? All of this? Would he even think she was sexy? A dark voice reasoned inside of her.

She pushed away that dark thought and blamed it on the fact that women wanted to be beautiful and loved it when men complimented them. She loved the attention, Arianna made excuses with that.

Unfortunately, the man who she wanted his approval was with another woman that was now caressing his chest and trying to pull his attention from her.

Arianna shook her head in disbelief, she must have been stupid to be concerned over what he thought about her.

She finally remembered why she agreed to this in the first place and it was to piss him off.

From now on, she would dance, not to impress him but because she liked it and would get every man in this room bowing to her. She would enjoy this dance because it was her body and her life, she chose what to do with it.

So when the dance began, Arianna took her eyes off him and became a different person - the other side that he hasn't gotten to know yet. The other side of her was wild, untamed, and powerful.

When the song "You don't know me," by Grace began to blast from the speakers, they began to sway their hips sexily.

The stage was lit up by a blue glow that gave the dancers an ethereal feel and Arianna stood out the most because her pale skin and red hair seemed fiery under the glow.

As the lyrics sang out,

[You don't own me

Don't try to change me in any way

You don't own me

Don't tie me down 'cause I'd never stay]

Arianna grew bolder as she launched herself on the pole and began to swing from side to side. It was obvious that she chose this song to make a statement to a certain someone.

From her search, this song was originally recorded by Lesley Gore in 1964 and was about women being in control of their own actions, bodies, and lives. It completely told her situation and so she absorbed herself in it.

After her synchronized swing with the other dancers, they continued with their routine while Arianna began to climb higher and higher up the pole, and just as the chorus, which was a high crescendo hit, Arianna made a death - drop that drew astonished gasps from her audience.

It was astonishing.

No one made a sound entranced by the dancing queen as the song went on,

[So just let me be myself

That's all I ask of you

I'm young and I love to be young

I'm free and I love to be free

To live my life the way I want

To say and do whatever I please]