Share

Ash and Dust

Author: LunarPen
last update publish date: 2026-06-21 02:25:16
The world came back in raw pieces. Dirt, rocks, and the chemical sting of burning plastic.

Victoria coughed hard, a violent hack that brought up black soot from her throat. She rolled onto her side on the wet asphalt, her palms scraping raw against the glass-littered ground. Her head was pounding with a loud, ringing noise that made it hard to think.

"Fuck," Giordano muttered nearby.

He was on his knees, clutching his left side. His chest was covered in black grime, and blood was leaking thro
LunarPen

Let’s be real, a "faulty gas main" is the understatement of the century. Victoria doesn't even have time to mourn her favorite club before the chaos drags her right back in. Salvatore better hold on tight, because things are about to get sub-zero. Thoughts on the chapter? Let me know below! 👇

| Like
Continue to read this book for free
Scan code to download App
Locked Chapter

Latest chapter

  • Kiss Me While The World Burns   Safe House

    Bruce scrambled over, quickly handing Giordano the wireless earpiece. Giordano took his place in front of the lens, his posture instantly shifting from a battered survivor to a perfectly composed, flawless tech mogul as the digital countdown on the screen hit zero.The rotating blue crest of the Nordic Defense Council vanished, replaced by a split-screen matrix of four high-ranking ministers sitting in windowless briefing rooms across Europe."Salvatore," Minister Vance grunted, his image broadcasting from a secure bunker in Oslo. "You’re late. The cryptographic handshake was scheduled for twelve minutes ago. We were about to flag your terminal as compromised.""An infrastructure glitch at the Zurich data center," Giordano said, his voice smooth, authoritative, and completely devoid of the strain ripping through his ribs. He didn't blink, his face a flawless mask of corporate arrogance. "The localized fire wall took a minor hit during a routine server migration. It's handled. The encr

  • Kiss Me While The World Burns   Deep Water

    The word Siberia hung in the cold morning air, heavy and ridiculous. Giordano didn't move for a second, his hands still gripping the edge of the stretcher inside the van. "Siberia? That’s a frozen graveyard. Nobody routes high-end weapons tech through a dead Soviet server unless they already have a buyer on the ground." "Which means my EMP is already moving," Victoria said, her voice dropping into a dangerous, flat register. "And I don't intend to let it leave the continent." A sudden gust of wind swept through the gravel yard, whipping the raw, smoky smell of her ruined club right back into her face. The morning sun was climbing higher, cutting through the gray smog with a harsh, blinding glare that made her eyes burn. Before Giordano could retort, the heavy satellite phone in Victoria’s jacket pocket began to buzz violently. It wasn't her usual burner; it was the secure, hard-encrypted line reserved for the inner circle of her syndicate operations. Beside her, Kany instantly wen

  • Kiss Me While The World Burns   Smoke and Stitches 2.

    Giordano rolled his eyes, leaning his head back against the hard pillow as the painkiller started to dull the sharp stab in his side. "Yeah. I can tell. You're real sweet, kid." Tex didn't appreciate the attitude. He deliberately tightened his grip on Giordano's injury, pressing down on the torn flesh just hard enough to make the billionaire flinch and gasp for air. Tex leaned in close, his orange hair practically touching Giordano's face. "I'm serious. If I find out that you brought any tracking devices, any syndicates, or any of your corporate enemies down on Victoria, I will personally kill you on this table and make it look like a medical complication. Do you understand me?" Despite the burning pain in his side, Giordano smirked provocatively, a dark, arrogant spark flashing in his eyes. He opened his mouth, completely ready to deliver a snappy retort that would probably get him stabbed with a scalpel, but Bruce sharply cut in before he could start a war. "Boss, please,"

  • Kiss Me While The World Burns   Smoke and Stitches

    With a sharp wave, Vance turned around and told her men to clear the perimeter, look for survivors, and get their statements. Just as she took another step, she looked over her shoulder and told Victoria that she had to go to the station to drop her statement. Without waiting for Victoria to reply, Vance left. Victoria scowled as she watched the captain's back. She turned to face a bald bouncer standing near the rubble and jerked her chin toward the street. "Go with Vance. Drop the statement. Keep it simple, keep it legal, and don't tell them a damn thing." The man nodded, his face blank. "Yes, boss." With that, he turned and walked toward the police line. Victoria wiped a thick layer of gray dust off her outfit, her chest tightening as she looked back at the smoking ruins of Aces and Ales. Her fingers curled into tight fists. She gritted her teeth, the fury boiling right behind her eyes. When she found out who was responsible for this mess, when she found the person who da

  • Kiss Me While The World Burns   Ash and Dust

    The world came back in raw pieces. Dirt, rocks, and the chemical sting of burning plastic. Victoria coughed hard, a violent hack that brought up black soot from her throat. She rolled onto her side on the wet asphalt, her palms scraping raw against the glass-littered ground. Her head was pounding with a loud, ringing noise that made it hard to think. "Fuck," Giordano muttered nearby. He was on his knees, clutching his left side. His chest was covered in black grime, and blood was leaking through his fingers from a deep cut across his ribs. A piece of flying metal had caught him during the scramble up the stairs. "Fuck. That was no gas leak." "Shut up," Victoria choked out, pushing herself into a sit. Her dark robe was torn to shreds at the bottom, soaked in dirty water and ash. She looked toward the front of the alley. Aces and Ales was gone. The entire building was just a hollow shell throwing thick orange flames and heavy black smoke into the gray morning air. The blast had shat

  • Kiss Me While The World Burns   Cold Steel

    Giordano let out a groan as his eyes fluttered open. His surroundings didn’t look like the expensive lounge of the Aces and Ales bar, nor did they resemble the glaring red of the high-security EMP vault. Instead, the room was stripped bare, cast in a suffocating, low-voltage darkness that smelled heavily of rust, damp concrete, and stagnant water. It was a glorified dungeon, and he was the center attraction. "Finally," Victoria’s taunting voice rang out from the shadows, dripping with a cold, dangerous amusement. "I was starting to think you were going to remain unconscious forever, Salvatore. And I really hate wasting a good interrogation on a sleeping man. It completely ruins the vibe." Giordano twitched his left eye, a sharp, blinding throb radiating straight from the back of his skull down to his jaw. He tried to shift his weight, but the unforgiving bite of leather bindings anchored his wrists securely behind a rusted industrial chair. His shirt was missing, the freezi

  • Kiss Me While The World Burns   Deadline

    Friday night. 8:58 PM.The air outside Helms Cove was freezing. At exactly nine o'clock, Victoria stepped inside. Her crimson leather dress was sleek, simple, and fit like a second skin. She scanned the empty room until she spotted Giordano in a corner booth.He had a quiet, relaxed posture, comple

  • Kiss Me While The World Burns   Done Deal

    “…An EMP?” Giordano asked, his tone dropping instantly into a deadly serious register. “A localized pulse, or something bigger?”“An apex trigger,” Victoria drawled. She reached back, lazily accepting a thick, matte-black file from Kany before tossing it onto the scarred mahogany desk. “A device co

  • Kiss Me While The World Burns   EMP

    The sharp, rhythmic clinking of designer stiletto heels shattered the pristine silence of the DanTech corporate reception lobby. Victoria’s grand entry struck the room like a sudden drop in atmospheric pressure, instantly radiating an aura of absolute dominance that left the employees frozen in pla

  • Kiss Me While The World Burns   Diamond Queen

    Fifteen years ago“Dad, does mummy hate us?”Eight-year-old Victoria asked, clutching the white and silver-studded teddy bear designed specifically for her by her father, Damien De Luca. Smiling down at his daughter, whose gray eyes shimmered with innocence, Damien crouched to her height.“Honey, m

More Chapters
Explore and read good novels for free
Free access to a vast number of good novels on GoodNovel app. Download the books you like and read anywhere & anytime.
Read books for free on the app
SCAN CODE TO READ ON APP
DMCA.com Protection Status