CHAPTER ONE
The smell of smoke clung to Gallo’s hands as he dragged the blade from his father’s chest.
Don Emiliano gasped, eyes wide with disbelief, blood bubbling on his lips. “You… my own son—”
“You killed her,” Gallo spat, voice shaking with rage. “You killed my mother and thought I would never find out, she was the onyly thing that was keeping me , us , sane.”
The Don’s lips twisted into a final sneer before his body collapsed, lifeless, onto the marble floor.
For a heartbeat, the world was silent. Then Gallo lit the match.
The old house burned, flames racing up velvet drapes, devouring portraits of kings and criminals. Gold melted, chandeliers crashed, and the legacy of Don Emiliano went up in fire. Gallo didn’t flinch. He wanted it gone—every memory, every lie, every ghost.
When he stepped outside, smoke still rising off his jacket, they were waiting for him.
His father’s soldiers. Rows of black suits. Guns heavy at their sides. Their faces unreadable, caught between loyalty and fear.
Gallo’s voice cut through the crackle of fire.
“If there’s any man among you who wants me dead for killing your boss, take your shot now. Do it. But hear me—whoever raises his gun, it will be the last breath he takes.”
The men shifted, glances traded, but no one raised a weapon. The fire roared louder behind him, as if daring them to try.
“Don Emiliano is gone,” Gallo continued, stepping down from the stairs. His eyes were steel. “And with him dies every oath, every debt you swore in him. Go home. To your wives, your children—if you still have them. Drink, eat, live. If he hasn’t already ordered their deaths.”
He turned to leave.
“Wait.”
The voice was rough, old, heavy with years of war. The eldest soldier stepped forward, scarred and gray, but steady. His name was Rocco Marino, a man who had served Don Emiliano longer than anyone alive. His gaze pinned Gallo.
“And where will you go, boy?”
Gallo’s jaw clenched. “To find my own path.”
“Your own path?” Rocco’s laugh was bitter, hollow. “You tell us to go home. Be normal men. But listen well—we were never normal. We were trained to kill, to hunt, to break. That’s what we are. Do you think you’ll walk out of here and become a priest? A saint? No, Gallo. You’ll never leave this behind. None of us will. Your father—and the ones before him—carved monsters into our bones. Even if we found families again, we’d poison them with what we are.”
The courtyard fell silent.
Rocco’s voice grew harder.
“So it’s this: either we scatter and die alone, or we put our heads together. You lead us, and we build something different. We try to heal. We change the rules. No more of your father’s filth—no more forcing ourselves on women to ‘humble’ them, no more slaughtering children and innocents. That ends tonight.”
He stepped closer, his scarred face burning in the firelight.
“We are killers, Gallo. That’s all we’ll ever be. And you—you’re the most ruthless of us all. So lead us. Not into your father’s shadow. Into something new.”
Gallo’s chest tightened. Their eyes were on him—all of them. Men who had slaughtered, tortured, bled for his father, now waiting for him to choose. His throat was raw, his hands still trembling from patricide, but the truth in Rocco’s words struck like steel.
He nodded once.
“Then hear me. Any man who wants out—leave now. You are free. No one will hunt you. But those who stay… we build. Not as monsters. As something else.”
The soldiers murmured, shifting, torn between fear and hope. Some stepped away, disappearing into the night. Others—most—stayed.
Gallo looked at them, the last sons of a dying empire, and felt the weight of their brokenness settle on his shoulders.
“Then follow me,” he said. “We’ll bury the old world. And we’ll build a new one where no one can ever find us.”
And so, from blood and ash, Gallo led them into exile. Far from the cities, far from the old ways, to a place beyond maps. An island hidden by sea and silence.
A kingdom of killers, remade in fire.
NOTE: Your choice to read this book is more than entertainment. It’s empowerment. It’s giving. With every copy you buy, $1 will go toward providing hygiene pads for young girls in Africa — girls who deserve dignity, hope, and the chance to stay in school without shame holding them back. And yes, a part of it also helps me chase my own dream of education, one book at a time. It’s changing lives — theirs, mine, and maybe even yours. For only $5 on Amazon Kindle, you don’t just get a love story… you become part
L
