Chapter One
The smell of blood clung to the air like smoke, invisible yet suffocating.
Alina Voss stood in the dimly lit study of her father's estate, the weight of her family's sins pressing down on her shoulders. Outside, the city whispered of violence and vengeance, but inside, it was eerily quiet. Too quiet.
Her fingers traced the worn edge of an old ledger on the desk, a relic of countless transactions soaked in corruption. She despised it all—the deals, the debts, the bodies buried in shallow graves. But she was a Voss. Blood in, blood out.
"Looking for something, princess?"
The voice was silk wrapped around steel, low and dangerous. Alina froze, every nerve on edge. She turned slowly, meeting the dark, unreadable gaze of Dante Corvin. The devil himself, standing in her father's house.
"What are you doing here?" she asked, her voice steady despite the racing of her pulse.
Dante leaned against the doorframe, a faint smirk playing at his lips. "Your father owes me a debt."
"Then take it up with him." She folded her arms, feigning defiance. "I'm not part of his world."
"Oh, but you are," he murmured, stepping closer. "And now, you're part of mine."
Her breath hitched as he stopped mere inches from her. There was danger in his eyes, but worse than that—there was interest. A predator circling its prey.
"Stay away from me," she whispered, though even she didn't believe her own words.
Dante chuckled darkly. "I would, Alina. But now that I've seen you, I don't think I can."
As he turned to leave, his final words hung in the air, a promise and a threat.
"Sooner or later, you'll come to me. They always do."
And when the door closed behind him, Alina knew her quiet hatred had awakened something far more terrifying—curiosity.