Chapter 4 - The Monster’s WrathThe bullet punched harmlessly through the drywall, throwing plaster dust into the air.
Before Viktor Vance could laugh, before he could kick the door open a second time, a heavy, brutal silence fell over the hallway outside. It was a terrifying, absolute quiet—the kind that only followed the arrival of a predator who had just found someone trespassing in his territory.
"Viktor."
The voice was a low, velvet-wrapped execution order.
Vance spun around, his hand flying to his shoulder holster, but he was too late. Luca Moretti stood at the end of the corridor, his white dress shirt stained with dark arterial spray—none of it his. His black suit jacket was gone, his sleeves rolled up to reveal forearms corded with muscle and splattered with the evidence of a merciless firefight.
In his right hand, he held a suppressed pistol, the barrel still smoking.
"Moretti," Vance forced a smug grin, his eyes darting to the blood on Luca's shirt. "Looks like your little fortress isn't as secure as you—"
Luca didn't let him finish.
In a blur of motion, Luca crossed the hallway, grabbed Vance by the lapels of his expensive designer suit, and slammed him against the opposite wall with enough force to crack the plaster.
Vance gasped, his breath knocked out of him as the gun was jammed squarely beneath his chin.
"You bled on my floor," Luca whispered, his voice dangerously soft. "You broke my door. And worst of all... you terrified a girl who lives under my protection."
"She’s mine," Vance choked out, clawing at Luca’s wrists. "She’s bound to me by contract. A debt paid in full. You have no legal right—"
"Law?" Luca let out a dark, humorless laugh that sent a shiver down the spine of every enforcer left standing in the hall. "In this city, I am the law. And you just broke the only rule that matters: You touched what is mine."
With a sickening crunch, Luca pistol-whipped Vance across the face, sending the rival boss crashing unconscious to the floor in a pool of blood.
Luca stepped over him, his chest heaving, and punched the code into the biometric lock of his suite. The heavy door swung open.
Elena stood frozen in the center of the room, the Beretta still trembling in her grip, tears streaming down her pale face.
May you like
Luca dropped his weapon, crossed the room in two strides, and pulled her violently into his arms, burying his face in her hair.
"You're safe," he murmured against her ear, his voice breaking for the first time. "I've got you. No one will ever touch you again."
