DON JULIO
The car drove speedily until we got to the hideout. I was quite sure that journalists could have flocked to the burning clubhouse.The silence in the hiding place was piercing as if nobody lived there. We were just back from the clubhouse and I needed to sort some very important things out. I was supposed to feel victorious but anger surged through me and I kept clenching and unclenching my fist as I walked into the hideout. I knew already but I kept it to myself. I knew that someone had told The Blood Vultures about our plans, and knew it even before we got to the club. The Blood Vultures were prepared but my men moved quickly and cleanly, they were too prepared. How could a rat have given them that information and I also hated rats and the worst part was that it was one of the family. I caught a glimpse of him. Pablo. Younger than most and more muscular. I had taken him in when he lost his family and when the flames iSARIAN.The wind in Kyoto was soft—nothing like the violent storms I had grown used to. It whispered through the cherry blossom trees like a lullaby, carrying petals through the air. Everything was pink and white, gentle and warm. Peaceful.I watched Don Julio—or rather, just Julio now—as he stood at the edge of the small lake, throwing tiny crumbs of bread to the koi fish. He wasn’t wearing a suit, no expensive watch, no gun on his hip. Just a simple white shirt, loose pants, and the biggest smile I had ever seen on him.I smiled too.It felt unreal sometimes. Like I was dreaming. But it was real. We were really here. In Japan. On vacation. Together.Free.My heart was full.He turned and caught me staring. “You’re not feeding the fish, Sarian,” he said, laughing as he walked toward me. “You’re staring like I’m the main course.”I rolled my eyes and crossed my arms. “Maybe you are. Don’t flatter yourself.”He came closer and took my hand. “You always say that, but you can’t lie to me
DON JULIO I lit a cigar as I stood by the window of the abandoned winery’s safe house. The smoke curled into the air, thick and bitter like the memories Catalina had left behind. The night was silent, the kind of silence that comes before a storm—or a reckoning.Then my phone buzzed.A message from Abraham: “I’m ready. She forgave me.”I stared at the message for a long second. Sarian had forgiven him. That meant everything.When Abraham came back from meeting her earlier that day, I barely recognized him. His face was wet with tears. His voice, low and broken, said only one thing: “Don Julio, I failed her. But I will never fail her again.”I had known Abraham for years. I’d seen him furious, I’d seen him ruthless—but I’d never seen him like this. Not like a broken man. Not like a father who realized too late what had been taken from him. Catalina had stolen his daughter when she was just a child, lied to her, raised her in bitterness.We were going to end that tonight.The car ride
CATALINA They always talk about how power feels—how it tastes, how it dresses itself in velvet and gold. But no one ever talks about the silence that comes with it. The kind of silence that wraps around your neck like silk, until you realize it's a noose.I sat alone in the villa’s upper floor, watching the storm unfold below from the cracked window. The courtyard was a battlefield now. I could hear the gunshots—the bursts of rage and desperation, the metallic thunder of men who came to kill or die trying. The air smelled like blood and gasoline. It reminded me of home.Of the life I was born into.Of the crown I was never supposed to wear.And yet, here I was—queen of what? An empire built on fear, rotting at the center because one girl had walked in and reminded Don Julio that love still existed. Sarian. Even her name sounded soft. A name you’d whisper, not shout. A name that didn’t belong in our world of knives and secrets.But somehow, she had taken everything.Him. His loyalty.
SARIAN My body felt like it didn’t belong to me anymore.The pain had settled deep in my bones—quiet but sharp. The ropes had dug into my wrists and ankles, and I could feel dried blood on my skin. I didn’t know how long I had been in this dark room. Hours? Days? Time had become a blur.But I was still breathing.That meant something.The weak light bulb above me flickered. My head ached, and the side of my face was swollen from where one of Catalina’s men had hit me. I tried not to cry anymore—my tears had dried up the night before.I was tired. Cold. Angry.But most of all—I was scared.I had no idea if Julio knew what had happened to me. No idea if anyone cared. Maybe I was going to die in this room. Maybe Catalina would win.I closed my eyes and whispered his name.*Julio…*A sound came from the hallway.Footsteps.I tensed.Not again. Please, not again.The door creaked open slowly, and I squinted, expecting another one of Catalina’s men.But it wasn’t.It was someone else.A ma
SIMEON I waited until the house was quiet before I made the call.After the storm that was my father’s rage, the silence felt heavier. It settled in the halls like dust after a gunfight—thick, still, full of something unsaid. The guards were back in their places, pretending not to glance at me, and I didn’t want to talk to any of them. I didn’t want to see anyone.I needed to breathe. To think. To hear her voice and understand what the hell she had done.I stepped into the study and shut the door behind me. Locked it. The smell of old paper, whiskey, and my father’s cologne still clung to the walls.Then I sat behind the desk, pulled out my phone, and stared at Catalina’s name on the screen.I hesitated.My thumb hovered for a second.Then I pressed “Call.”It rang three times before she picked up.“Hello, love,” she said.Her voice was just as smooth and calm as ever. Like nothing had happened. Like Sarian wasn’t missing. Like I wasn’t falling apart from the inside out.“What did yo
SIMEONI knew something was off the moment I walked into the house.The hallway was too quiet.The guards didn’t meet my eyes like they normally did. One even took a step back as I passed. That wasn’t fear. That was shame.And then I heard the footsteps. Heavy. Measured. Too familiar.My father was pacing.I hadn’t seen him in two days. That usually meant trouble was brewing, and now I could feel the weight of it pressing into my skin.I stepped into the main room and found him standing by the bar, one hand gripping a crystal glass so tight I thought it might shatter.Abraham Moretti.Capo of the Bloody Vultures. My father. My general. My curse.“Sit,” he said without looking at me.I obeyed. The leather chair creaked beneath me, but I didn’t say a word. My palms were already sweaty.He turned slowly, placing the glass down with care, like it was more precious than the people he destroyed.Then he walked toward me.And seized me by the collar.I didn’t even have time to blink before h