PROLOGUE - The Last Order
The Last Order
The Devil had always said one thing.
“Power isn’t taken by the strongest. It’s kept by the smartest.”
Tonight...
His final move would prove it.
The mansion was burning.
Gunfire echoed through its endless corridors as smoke curled along the marble floors.
Bodies of elite guards lay motionless, their blood staining walls that had witnessed decades of secrets.
Outside, dozens of black SUVs surrounded the estate.
The empire was under siege.
Inside his private office, Adrian Moretti—the man the underworld feared as The Devil—stood before the floor-to-ceiling window.
His white shirt was soaked with blood.
Yet his expression remained calm.
As if death had arrived exactly when he expected it.
The office door burst open.
“Luca!”
Luca De Santis stepped inside, breathing heavily. Blood dripped from a cut above his eyebrow, and his suit was torn from the firefight.
“They’ve breached the west wing.”
Another explosion shook the mansion.
“We have less than two minutes.”
Adrian remained silent.
Luca frowned.
“We can still get you out.”
“No.”
It was a single word.
Cold.
Final.
“They’ve planned this for years,” Adrian said quietly. “Running now only delays the inevitable.”
Luca clenched his jaw.
“I won’t leave you.”
“You will.”
Adrian walked to his desk and unlocked the bottom drawer.
From inside, he removed a black envelope sealed with crimson wax.
Pressed into the wax was a single letter.
V.
He placed it in Luca’s hands.
“For thirty years, men have fought to steal my empire.”
His voice was steady.
“They’ll never imagine who I chose instead.”
Luca looked at the envelope.
“Who is it?”
Adrian smiled.
“The future.”
Another explosion shattered the windows.
Glass rained across the office.
Shouts echoed from the hallway.
“They’re here!”
Luca instinctively reached for his pistol.
Adrian stopped him.
“No.”
For the first time in years, the Devil looked... tired.
“When they learn my successor’s name, they’ll hunt her.”
He looked directly into Luca’s eyes.
“They must never reach her before you do.”
Luca’s grip tightened around the envelope.
“I swear it.”
Adrian nodded once.
“I know.”
Heavy footsteps thundered outside the office.
The massive doors began to shake.
BANG!
BANG!
BANG!
They wouldn’t hold much longer.
Luca hesitated.
“I can’t leave you.”
“You already know your order.”
Silence.
Then...
Luca bowed his head.“...Yes, Boss.”He turned and disappeared through the hidden passage behind the bookshelf.
Seconds later—
The office doors exploded inward.Armed men flooded the room.Their leader raised his weapon.“The Devil.”
Adrian slowly sat in his leather chair.He straightened his tie.Crossed one leg over the other.And smiled.
“I was wondering when you’d arrive.”A gunshot echoed through the burning mansion.Then another.
Then silence.
Three hours later.
Somewhere far from the burning estate...Luca stood alone beneath the pouring rain.His hands were stained with blood.For several long moments, he stared at the sealed envelope.Finally...He broke the crimson wax.Inside was a single sheet of paper.
One name.
ELENA VOSS.
Luca closed his eyes.
“So...”
“...it’s you.”
He folded the paper carefully and slipped it inside his coat.Then he walked into the darkness.
Because somewhere...A girl who had never heard the Devil’s name...Had just become the most hunted woman in the world.
