LOGINAdriano slowly lifted his boot, letting the blood drip off the leather onto the concrete as his stare swept across the rest. "Now," he whispered, a terrifying smile finally touching the corners of his lips, "Who else feels like telling me a story?" Morgan started sobbing violently. I shook my h
No, no! "I wasn't even there when they hurt the girl!" Cole yelled, "They brought her to me already bleeding! Brianna was the one who hit her in the head! She used a heavy wooden club from the garage! They carried her in here like a sack of rocks, and I was the one who washed the blood off her fac
Cole’s chest heaved, his eyes turned frantic, like a rat looking for a hole in the wall. "I know how Chicago works. You don't survive in this city by picking a fight with the Capones," he slowly shook his head, "I'm not suicidal." My stomach twisted. No. He was lying. I made a desperate sound
"Move!" Capone guards surged forward with frightening speed. Cole's men reached for their weapons but they never got the chance. One guard twisted a man's arm behind his back before he had even cleared his waistband. Another kicked a pistol across the concrete floor. Boots thundered in every dire
I looked at Cole again. He wasn't even watching us. He was checking his phone. Rage exploded inside me, "MMPH!" I lunged forward as far as the ropes allowed. "If she keeps doing that," he said calmly, "she'll reopen the wound." I wanted to claw his face apart. I wanted to scream. Instead, anoth
Gianna ━⊰ ❦ ⊱━ Pain. That was the first thing I felt. It was a deep, heavy ache that pulsed through the back of my head. It throbbed with every heartbeat, every breath, every tiny movement. A quiet whimper escaped me before I even opened my eyes. The world slowly came into focus. The ceiling a
Gianna ━⊰ ❦ ⊱━ The motorcycle slowed down as Raphael steered us off the empty scenic road and pulled into a deserted gas station. He stopped right next to the fuel pump. He kicked the kickstand down, and we both unfastened our helmets, letting the cool morning air rush over our faces. I climbed
I still talked through the helmet, even though my voice was muffled, he still understood me. At first, we just talked about random things, the architecture of the old buildings we passed, the way the morning light hit the glass towers in the distance, and how the city felt completely different when
Even standing in the middle of blood-soaked woods after a night of hunting monsters, Raphael somehow still looked... perfect. "You built an empire before most people your age even figure out who they are," I whispered. "You walk into a room and everybody listens. You know how to talk to people. Yo
I looked back at her, and I gestured around the room, at the perfect rows of weapons and the monitors, "I like my violence contained. I like it surgical. I like to be the one who decides exactly when and where the hammer falls." I stood right in front of her now, so close that she had to tilt her h







