Chapter 1: The Blood-Stained Sanctuary
Dante stumbled through the relentless rain, the shadows of the alley swallowing his trail. A bullet had torn through his shoulder, and the metallic tang of blood filled his lungs. He reached for the only place he felt safe—Elena’s doorstep. When she pulled the door open, she didn’t see a monster; she saw a broken man.
— Please... — Dante rasped, his strength fading fast.
Elena gasped, her hands trembling as she pulled him inside. She was a woman who despised the cruelty of the underworld, her heart still scarred by the memory of her father’s death at the hands of debt-collecting criminals. As she cleaned his wound, she cursed the violence of the world, unaware that the man lying in her bed was the king of the very nightmare she feared.
— It was just a work accident, — Dante lied, his gaze softening as he watched her hands work.
