Chapter 5: She's an enemy.

Pity. Sadness. The primal needs to protect and claim.

Fifteen years had passed since I last felt those emotions. Then, two months ago, I saw her. And suddenly, the walls I had spent years constructing—layer upon layer of cold, hardened indifference began to crack.

I had trained myself to feel nothing except anger and the relentless hunger for revenge. It had earned me my title. A monster. A devil. A ruthless bastard. And I wore it like a second skin.

I relished the fear in their eyes when they heard my name. I took pleasure in the way their bodies trembled at my presence, the way their screams echoed when I drove my knife into their hearts, serving my own brand of judgment before they met the real devil.

I lived for their suffering. Their pleas for mercy were music to my ears. The only thing that kept my blood pumping.

But her?

I couldn't stand to see her hurt. And that terrified me.

Why? Why the fuck was she different? Why did she haunt my thoughts, invading every dark corner of my mind?

My fingers tightened around the steering wheel, my jaw twitching as I fought the urge to turn the car around. To hunt down the bastard who did this to her and make him fucking pay. But she was asleep in the backseat, curled up, breathing softly, blissfully unaware of the war waging inside me.

I needed to get her home first.

Then, I would burn the world to find the one responsible.

And when I did—I would cut off their fucking head, feed their brains to my dogs, and reduce their body to nothing but ashes.

The car rolled to a stop in my driveway, and without hesitation, I got out and moved to the backseat.

She barely stirred as I scooped her into my arms. I carried her inside, my jaw clenching as her scent wrapped around me like a drug. Vanilla and lavender. Fuck. It was intoxicating.

I should have handed her off to one of the maids, should have left the room the moment I laid her down. But I didn’t. I couldn’t.

I wanted to lay beside her and inhale her over and over, till I'm satisfied, if I will ever be. And I don't care if that made me look like a creep, I already am.

I stood there, watching her.

Taking in her soft features, the way her long, golden curls cascaded over my pillows, the slight part of her lips that had my cock twitching in my slacks.

"Fucking hell!" I muttered.

My cock was painfully hard, and it wasn’t subsiding. Not when she was in my home, in my bed, lying there like an offering to a beast who had been starving for far too long.

I hated blondes. Always had. My mother was one, and she was a heartless, vile woman. Every other blonde I’d met after her had been no better.

And yet…I'm painfully obsessed with one.

I fucking killed a man for her.

I broke another’s bones.

What else would I do?

The worst part?

I wanted to find out.

Growling under my breath, I forced myself to move. I needed to put space between us before I did something reckless.

Storming out of the room, I called for one of the maids.

“Change her into something comfortable and dress her wound,” I ordered. My voice was hoarse, betraying the restraint coiling tight inside me. “Be careful with her.”

The maid scurried inside, leaving me standing in the dim hallway, fists clenched at my sides.

What the fuck is she doing to me?

Minutes passed.

When the maid finally stepped out, she bowed her head. “It’s done, sir.”

I dismissed her with a sharp nod, already shifting gears to what needed to be done next.

The motherfucker who hurt her.

Pulling out my phone, I dialed Zack.

He picked up on the second ring. “Boss. What’s up?”

“I need you to look into Sofia Butler. I want everything—who she is, why someone is trying to hurt her. Her house burned down tonight, and I want the fucker responsible.”

A pause. Then, “ On it.”

I ended the call just as Jay approached. I had sent my men to investigate, to track down any signs of her family.

“Boss, we found them but…” He hesitated.

“But what?” I demanded.

His throat bobbed. “The little boy… he didn’t make it.”

A muscle ticked in my jaw. I forced a breath through my nose, but it did nothing to cool the fire raging in my veins.

“Fuck.”

My grip tightened around my phone, the plastic creaking under the pressure.

“Find me the bastard who did this.” My voice was low, deadly. “Or I swear to God, I’ll burn down every fucking thing in my way until I do.”

“Yes, boss!” Jay didn’t need me to say it twice before turning on his heel.

I exhaled sharply, shoving a hand through my hair.

Sofia would be devastated when she woke up.

I wasn’t good at comforting people. Hell, I wasn’t good at anything that didn’t involve blood, violence, and revenge.

But I had to figure it out.

Because when she woke up, she would break.

I would be the one to put her back together.

The sound of my ringtone broke me out of my reverie, a frown creaked on my face as I looked at the caller id.

"This better be good" I murmured under my breath before placing the phone on my ear.

"I'm listening!"

"Boss, the goods -" there was a pause but I could hear the way his heart was pounding fast.

"You better be fucking kidding me right now!" I growled, my body shaking with rage.

“I tried to stop them. I swear on my life...I even got shot trying to fight them off—”

“Where the fuck was Larry?”

“I—I don’t know. He told us to go ahead with the shipment. Said he’d be right behind us, but he never showed.”

I didn’t speak. I just lowered the phone slowly, slipped it into my pocket, and turned around, my fists already clenched. I saw red. I tasted metal.

Larry was dead. He just didn't know it yet.

He could be my brother, my blood—but tonight, he crossed a line. You don’t betray me and expect to breathe the next day.

I had barely taken two steps when my phone buzzed again.

I yanked it out, not even checking who it was.

“What!” I barked, fire still roaring in my throat.

“Boss… it’s Zack.” The voice was lower now.  “I found something about Sofia Butler.”

“And you’re calling me like a coward because…?” I growled.

“Because it’s not good. And I know you won’t take it well.”

“Fucking say it,” I snapped.

There was a pause on the other end. I could hear him swallow.

Then he said it, and it felt like a bucket of ice was poured on me with the way my blood went cold.

She's an enemy.