LOGINHenri rips the paper off with a sharp movement. Luca groans, spitting out a thread of saliva and blood."Who was it?" Henri asks, his voice so cold that even the rain seems to hesitate as it falls.Luca chokes, trying to form words, but only manages to stammer:"Th-They... wanted Elizabeth."My stomach twists like a caged animal. Jean is already beside me, pressing a tactical knife into my hand before I even realize I asked for it."How many?" I ask, my voice hoarse.Luca trembles."Four... but they weren't Russians. They spoke... our language."Henri and I exchange a look.Shit.If it wasn't Pyotr, then it was someone who knew too much about me — about us. Someone who discovered the weak point I myself refused to admit I was creating.I became a ghost.For years, I paid in gold and blood to erase my trail from the world. Photographers were bribed or threatened before they could press the shutter. Security cameras "failed" mysteriously when I passed by. Even the facial recognition alg
PRESENTTHREE DAYS LATER...The whiskey in my hand has long lost all its ice. I swirl the glass slowly, watching the amber liquid move as the last five years of waiting burn in my throat like fire."Five years, Henri." My voice is a blade driven into the office silence. "Five years and Pyotr hasn't even sent a messenger to hunt me down."Henri sighs, rubbing the back of his neck. The office at Maison smells of polished wood and unfired gunpowder."They're acting, Olivier. You just don't see it because you don't want to. Too distracted by the hot blonde." He approaches the window, observing the empty street. "Someone tried to buy information about our business last week. New men asking too many questions in the wrong bars."I rub my eyes. The tension throbbing in my temples isn't just frustration—it's something deeper, darker. Something that smells like a trap."What if we're wrong? What if Pyotr doesn't even remember my name anymore?"Henri laughs, a dry sound."Men like Pyotr don't f
PRESENTPARIS, FRANCEThe night wind still howls in my ears as I cross the threshold of the apartment. My footsteps echo on the cold marble, each heel strike marking the accelerated rhythm of my heart. The smell of blood and river still clings to my clothes — a physical reminder of what I just did.They're already waiting.Yakov sits on the arm of the sofa, his elbow resting on his knee, restless fingers drumming against his own thigh. Vasily, as always, stands — a sentinel in dark clothes, impeccable, with steel eyes. The silence between them is heavy, charged."Where were you?" Yakov's voice is low and dark, too rough to hide the concern seeping through the corners of his eyes.My hands tremble as I pull my hair back."I was with Michael." The words come out like a confession, heavy and bitter on my tongue.The air in the apartment seems to solidify. Vasily lets out a hoarse "fuck," his hands clenching into fists so tight his knuckles turn white."Is that blood on your clothes his o
PAST — 5 YEARS AGOPARIS, FRANCE — A FEW WEEKS LATERThe apartment smells of mildew, gunpowder, and reheated coffee. The peeling walls are covered with maps, photographs, and handwritten notes in a code that only Henri and I understand. The window is boarded up, but the midday light still manages to seep through, drawing pale stripes across the dirty floor.I look at the clock.Two months.Two months since the night everything fell apart.Two months since Olivier Lefèvre "died."Henri insists we're safe here, in this abandoned mansion that now serves as our lair.But I no longer believe in safety.I believe in silence.In patience.Vengeance is delayed but not canceled.My hand trembles slightly as I hold the cold coffee cup.From rage.An electric current has run through my nerves since that night, since the moment I realized I had been deceived.I was wrong.It wasn't just any slip. It wasn't a mistake that could be fixed with an apology or a well-placed shot.It was a beginner's er
PRESENTPARIS, FRANCEMy body still carries the weight of the weekend like a war medal. Saturday exhausted me in every way imaginable. The marble bathtub where he led me for a bath remains in my memory; I relaxed so much that I collapsed from exhaustion. The hot water and his fingers pulling the last breath out of me are still etched into my skin.Sunday was a soft contrast: silk sheets, his lazy lips tracing my contours, a French film he insisted was "essential" playing as background noise while I dozed against his chest.He can't be Olivier, the man who gives me the best orgasms, who planned a weekend like that to be with me. He can't be the man I'm destined to kill.The one who, little by little, no matter how much I deny it, is gaining a place in my heart.Today, we woke up early — too early for my taste — and he dropped me off at the studio with a kiss that promised things no boss should promise an employee. I had to push him out before my team arrived, his dark eyes laughing at
PAST — 10 YEARS AGOPARIS, FRANCE — OLIVIER'S MANSIONThe sun sets over Moscow, staining the old buildings a dirty red, almost like dried blood. I, Olivier, watch from a distance, hidden in the twilight of my decrepit apartment. The city moves outside, ignorant, unaware of the plan brewing in my mind.Pyotr Petrov will die.His daughter. His sons-in-law. And the grandchildren... ah, the grandchildren—they are the key. The revenge will not be complete until the entire bloodline rots in the same hell they created for me.The oldest ones — Vasily, Darya, and Yakov — are first on the list. Triplets, direct heirs to the blood empire the grandfather built. They are now twenty years old. Twelve months to go.Twelve months until they turn twenty-one and officially inherit what remains of the Petrov and Green mafia.But they won't live to see that day.The other five—Yelena, Alicia, Finnian, Alexander, and Damon Green—are younger, six years younger than the triplets. All of them, without excep
Luther GreenI sat at the dark wooden table in the Black Velvet, one of our bars in New York. The atmosphere was warm, with amber lights casting dancing shadows on the exposed brick walls. The scent of aged whiskey and expensive tobacco hung
Heros GreenThe main warehouse looked like a war zone when our two armored SUVs stopped at the destroyed entrance. Black smoke still rose from the twisted metal structures, mixing with the heavy stench of burnt plastic, gunpowder, and diesel
Luther GreenThe office was submerged in shadows. Only the desk lamp partially lit my brothers’ faces, casting long shadows that danced across the dark walls. The tension was thick, almost electric. I couldn’t stay still. I paced back and forth, my body vibrating with an explosive mix of anxiety, p
Zedekiah GreenThe weak light from the bulb swung from the ceiling like a broken pendulum, casting long, distorted shadows that seemed alive on the damp walls of the basement. The air was thick, heavy with the smell of mold and rust and the subtle scent of fear I had learned to recognize so well.A







