The Devil Behind The Spotlight
Adrianna’s eyes blinked open into suffocating blackness.
It was cold. The air was damp and metallic, like rust and mold had seeped into the very walls. Her wrists ached, bound tightly. Her ankles too. She was sitting on something hard—wood or steel, maybe—and her body was tilted just enough that every muscle screamed in protest.
When she tried to scream, nothing but a choked sound escaped. Her mouth was gagged, thick fabric muffling everything. Panic spread like wildfire through her body. She struggled, twisting, yanking against her restraints, muffled cries getting louder. She thrashed in her seat, the wood creaking beneath her.
Her heart thundered in her chest.
“Where am I? What the fuck is going on?”
Then she heard it—footsteps.
More than one. Coming closer.
Her body froze. Even her heart seemed to stop for a second.
The footsteps stopped just beyond the door and it went silent. The only sounds she could hear was nothing but her frantic breathing.
Then the door clicked and slowly creaked open. With the flip of a switch, blinding light poured into the room.
She squeezed her eyes shut. The sudden brightness pierced her skull like a migraine. She winced, tilting her head away, waiting... until her vision adjusted.
When she opened her eyes, she saw them.
Adriano, Alessandro, Gabriele, Diamond, Enzo, Serena, Luca and Marco.
Standing in a wide semicircle in front of her.
The room was concrete and empty except for a few metal crates and dangling overhead lights. They were in an abandoned warehouse.
Adriano stepped forward, arms folded, a slow grin playing on his lips. “You’re a slippery little bitch, you know that?” he said. “Almost got away.” He reached over and high-fived Marco without looking away from her. “But thanks to Marco here we caught you.”
Adrianna’s heart dropped as her mind pieced it together.
The driver.
Her eyes widened with realization.
Alessandro crouched in front of her, smiling. “Surprised?” he said, his voice dripping with venom. Slowly, he reached up and yanked the gag from her mouth.
The second it came off, she screamed.
“HELP! SOMEBODY HELP ME!”
The scream echoed through the warehouse.
Alessandro’s hand snapped out like a whip and smacked her across the face. Her face twisted from the force of the blow so hard that her body jerked sideways in the chair. The sting burned deep and sharp. Blood filled her mouth from a split in her lip. Her cheek swelled red instantly, and tears spilled from her eyes.
“You bastard!” she screamed, choking on her own sobs. “How dare you hit a woman! Do you even know who the fuck I am?!”
Alessandro didn’t flinch. He smiled, tilting his head.
“Oh, we know exactly who you are.”
He leaned closer, his voice turning ice-cold.
“You’re Adrianna Jackson. Global superstar. Fashion icon. Grammy award-winning artist. Queen of Pop.”
Then his eyes darkened.
“Monster. Scum. Devil.” His voice turned to a whisper. “Predator.”
Adrianna’s lips trembled. “I—I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Alessandro stood upright, raking a hand through his dark hair and turning to the others with mock disbelief.
“She says she doesn’t know.” He looked at her again, his eyes narrowed. “Not the slightest idea?”
“No!” she snapped. “I don’t know anything.”
He chuckled. “Right.”
Then he turned to Adriano and said, “Adri.”
Adriano nodded toward Serena.
Serena pressed her earpiece and muttered, “Bring him in.”
The heavy warehouse doors groaned as they opened once again. Two men dragged in a body by the arms—Aaron Jackson.
Or what was left of him.
Adrianna gasped so loudly it sounded like a scream. Her face contorted in horror as they dropped her husband at her feet.
Aaron’s face was unrecognizable. His eyes were swollen shut. His lips bruised, his nose broken and bleeding. His left ear was gone. Fingers were missing. Blood soaked his clothes.
“NO! AARON! OH MY GOD! WHAT THE FUCK DID YOU DO TO HIM??!!”
Alessandro slapped her again. This time she didn’t fight back. Her screams died into ragged sobs.
Adriano knelt in front of Aaron, grabbed him by the hair and yanked his head up. “Tell her what you told us,” he growled.
Aaron sobbed, choking. “P-please… please let me go…”
Adriano drove his boot into Aaron’s gut.
“TALK!”
“I—I’ll talk!” Aaron wheezed, trembling. “I… I was part of The Gilded Veil before Adrianna.”
Adrianna’s breath caught in her throat.
Aaron continued. “When we started dating a few years ago… I got her in. It boosted our career. They gave us everything. Money. Protection. Fame. Power.”
“And the price?” Enzo said coldly.
Aaron shook violently. “The Black Rose. They work with the Veil. They… they bring in the goods. The art, the jewelry, the people.”
“The children,” Alessandro muttered.
Aaron nodded. “They have entire rings across different continents. Sometimes they harvest organs from these people they traffick and sell them to the highest bidder at the auctions. As for the kids… they're–they’re rented out to members of the veil. Sometimes, the veil hosts s–sex parties and–and, we’d pick them out and then we…we—”
“Please stop.” Diamond said in a shaky voice. “I’m gonna fucking throw up.”
Gabriele was staring at the floor, jaw clenched, his fists trembling at his sides.
Alessandro slowly turned to Adrianna.
“Still don’t know what I’m talking about?”
Adrianna was hysterical now. “Please—please—I’ll give you money. I’ll do anything. Just let me go. Don’t hurt me.”
Gabriele stepped forward, eyes cold. “Maxwell Chen was worth ten times more than you. We didn’t want his money, so what makes you think we want yours?”
“I AM A LEGEND!” Adrianna screamed. “YOU HAVE NO IDEA WHO YOU’RE DEALING WITH! FUCKING LET ME G—”
Alessandro slapped Adrianna again, she snapped and spat at him.
Blood smeared across his cheek. He stepped back in silence. Everyone froze.
And then Adrianna started to laugh.
A high-pitched, chilling laugh that echoed through the warehouse. It sounded deranged… evil in fact.
“You’re all so funny you know that?,” she said between laughter. “You run around, acting like you’re justice. Like you’re the good guys. Like you’re fucking saints but you're murderers. Thieves. Mafia scum. You're no different than me or The Veil.”
Gabriele slowly walked forward. “That’s where you’re wrong,” he said quietly.
Adrianna scoffed. “Am I?”
“Yes,” he said. “My brothers and I have probably lost count of all the people we’ve killed. We’ve stolen, committed arson, kidnapped and held people hostage, blackmailed rich and influential figures…” he trailed of chuckling a bit. “We’d probably be sentenced to hell for eternity for all the things we’ve done. But we only deal with bad guys. The dirtiest of the dirty… like you.”
He paused. “That’s the difference. We don't go after innocent people.”
Adrianna opened her mouth again but Gabriele gagged her without another word.
Serena spoke up, “We got Aaron’s biometrics. All we need now is hers.”
Moments later, two techs entered with equipment. They set up their tools and scanned Adrianna’s fingerprints and retina. She struggled, but it didn’t matter. They got what they came for.
As they packed up and left, Alessandro crouched beside her once again.
“How did you know?” he whispered. “That we were coming?”
Adrianna smirked despite her pain, her blue eyes flicking to Diamond.
“La Rosa Nera has eyes and ears everywhere,” she whispered hoarsely. Then she looked at every single one of them and said. “You're not gonna get away with this. The Black Rose will come after you, The Veil will find and destroy each and every single one of you!!!”
Then her gaze locked with Diamond again. “What’s your name again. Diamond, right? You’re a fucking two-faced bitch you know that?”
Diamond’s brows knitted together in confusion. Gabriele frowned and turned to look at her, then glanced back at Adrianna.
Alessandro shoved the gag back into Adrianna’s mouth and stood up.
“So here’s what’s gonna happen,” he said, circling her slowly. “You’re a star, The Queen of Pop. Everything about you is bright and explosive.”
He smiled darkly.
“We all agreed to let you and your husband go out the same way. With a bang!”
Adrianna’s brows furrowed.
Alessandro didn’t explain. He just stared at her with that same cruel grin as the lights above them flickered.