Okay, don't kill me! It's a new story when I still have so many others to work on, but I just haven't been inspired for them.

CLAIMER: Characters and plot belong to me, any similarity is purely coincidence and I apologize.

WARNING: Not much for this chapter, just cheesy gangster warning.

Louis Parezzi casually flicked an invisible piece of lint off of his impeccable business suit.

"Are you even listening to me Lou?" The annoyed voice of the enchantingly beautiful and regrettably married Sophia Ludovici caused him to return his attention to her.

They were seated across from each other in the upscale club The Haven, which was owned by Sophia and her husband. It was an impressive place and a gathering place for the social elite. The atmosphere was romantic, dim lighting, expensive furniture, expensive drinks, frankly expensive everything.

All kinds of music played through the state of the art sound system. The Haven catered to all tastes. Tonight was techno and trance night, a melancholy song by 4 Strings filled the room, catching Louis's attention.

"I like this song," he commented.

Sophia frowned, her incredibly thin eyebrows coming together. "I'm married, quite happily in fact. No matter how charming you are or what you do will change that fact. I love my husband."

"But you love me," he stated, revealing that he had been in fact listening the entire time.

"Don't be so preposterous. Treat me as a friend and nothing more or I won't allow you in here ever again." She rose from her chair.

Being a gentleman, Louis stood also.

"Shouldn't you be encouraging new patrons instead of discouraging them?"

She smiled thinly, tucking strands of blonde hair behind her ear. "Good night Lou."

Louis watched her go wondering where he had gone wrong. He knew that she was attracted to him. Of course she would be considering that he was her husband's rival in the business. It was only natural.

Only, Louis hadn't expected to fall in love with her. It was hard not to. She was everything he ever wanted in a woman. She was strong and passionate about what she believed in. She was a fighter. Louis had high respect for her.

It helped that she was gorgeous. She had a regal bearing that made her seem taller than her five foot five frame. She was slender, but strong. Her medium length blonde hair was always sophisticatedly styled. Her eyes were most enchanting, dark brown and slanted.

As he left The Haven, he wondered just what to do. That's when his eyes fell on a figure with a mop of oily brown hair and an idea clicked into place.

(Rory)

Rory Jones wasn't exactly your average teenager. At age eighteen he had just graduated from high school. Now this should be a happy time in Rory's life, but it was actually particularly unhappy. He had run away from his home.

It wasn't as if his parents abused him or anything, he just couldn't stand living with them, mostly because of his mother. She was an extremely pushy woman that had to have her way. She always had high expectations for him, expectations so high he could never reach them. She was always unsatisfied with everything he did. Nothing he ever did was good enough for her. She didn't respect his dreams or anything he valued.

He just couldn't live with the constant disappointment he seemed to generate. So at first opportunity, he packed his belongings, emptied his bank account, got in a car and drove away.

He washed up in this suburban town. At first things were great, but he couldn't find a job. Without a job he couldn't pay rent so he was evicted from his apartment.

Now he was on the streets. He had been sleeping in his car, but things had gotten so bad he had to sell it to buy food to eat.

Currently, he was sitting on a park bench with a McDonald's hamburger he had managed to scrounge enough change for when the man approached him.

"Do you need money?"

The stranger who asked the question was tall and wearing a dark blue designer label suit. He appeared to be around thirty with longish dark brown hair, blue eyes, and straight white teeth.

"I'm not a beggar or a whore," Rory explained between bites.

The man shook his head as if dazed. "No, I didn't think that you were. I want to offer you a job. And a place to stay if you need it."

Rory looked up at the other man warily. He knew that when offers sounded too good to be true they usually were.

"We can discuss the particulars at my penthouse if you like. It's only a few blocks from here."

Rory sighed as he followed the man. He might as well see if the bait was worth nibbling at.

"What's your name?" The man asked.

"Rory. Rory Jones."

"It's a pleasure to meet you Rory. I'm Louis Parezzi." He offered his hand for Rory to shake.

As Rory took it, he couldn't help feeling as if he was making a deal with the devil.

Louis hid a smile as he handed a beverage to Rory. It was all too easy. The boy in front of him was so deliciously dirty and half starved. He knew that his offer was one the boy would not refuse and everything would go his way.

"Now Rory, how old are you?"

"Eighteen," was the short reply.

"Good." There was a pause as Louis paced a minute before stopping in front of Rory. "I need someone to clean my house. In exchange I will give you a room and pay any of your necessary expenses."

"Is that all I have to do? Clean?" Rory couldn't help but feel as if there was a catch to the whole deal.

"I need a favor from you."

"Yes?" Rory asked for clarification.

"I need you to pretend to be my lover."

The sound of Rory's glass shattering on the floor caused Louis to smile.

(TBC)

Short intro chappie. I hope this is semi-intriguing. Please tell me what you think!

Izzy-chan