Chapter 1

He was just a bloodied street kid when he tattooed my name over his heart.

Years later, he ruled the East Side—and called me his queen.

Until his little starlet walked into our home, flaunting a fake belly.

I told them to test it.

She bled. He raged.

He pressed a knife to my throat—

So I pressed my gun to his heart.

“You’ve changed, Silas. Good thing I haven’t.”

Bang.

The one who fell was Jax, Silas's loyal, limping subordinate.

"So you care that much? Right. That little starlet? Jax groomed her, carefully, perfectly, just to send her your way. To make you this furious with me, she must have some real talent."

My gaze dropped to the glint of silver at my throat.

I scoffed.

"Still hesitating? Silas, you weren't this indecisive before."

"What's wrong? Your hand's shaking just holding a knife?"

My mocking gaze cut him deep. In the silent standoff between our eyes, he finally broke.

He tossed the knife aside and slumped back onto the sofa.

"Jax has been with me for ten years. What you did... it's ruthless."

I offered a sweet smile and had Jax dragged away.

"He's not you."

"I only go soft when it comes to you."

Silas looked at me, his eyes clouded with complex emotions.

"I want to keep Skylar."

"This life, Raven, it's been nothing but blood and brutality. I'm tired. Skylar... she's like a quiet window, a breath of fresh air. She makes me feel like a regular guy, someone who could just... live a normal life. Go grocery shopping, cook dinner."

I didn't rush to speak, setting my gun down beside me.

I lit a cigarette, taking a slow drag before I spoke.

"Normal?"

"Silas, have you told her about the blood on your hands, the dirty money in your ledgers, the enemies knocking on our door in the dead of night? You drag her little world of quiet domesticity into our world? That's not normal, Silas. That's a death wish."

Silas frowned, clearly annoyed by my retort.

"Raven, I'm not asking for your permission."

"I'm informing you."

He stood up, heading to the inner room to cradle a pale, still-unconscious Skylar Bell, whose bleeding had stopped. Her face, nestled in his arms, looked eerily like a younger me in the flickering light - maybe seventy percent there.

"Raven, just settle into your role as the lady of the house."

"This is your last chance. If you dare touch Skylar again, I won't hold back."

Silas strode away with his men.

The wide-open door funneled a draft through the house, extinguishing the cigarette between my fingers.

Dominic Cross approached from behind me, bowing slightly to relight it. He asked,

"Your aim shifted. Did you go soft, Raven?"

Through the swirling smoke.

I repeated the word, my tone laced with mockery.

"Soft? I never intended to kill him."

"Silas's life? One bullet would be enough. What I want is the password to his Swiss bank accounts, the ledgers of his illicit dealings, and every single one of his legitimate businesses."

"Death, honestly, would be too easy for him."

Dominic's heart, which had sunk at my supposed "softness," now thrummed with the chill of my ruthless declaration. He asked a somewhat naive question.

"Don't you... don't you love him?"

Countless memories flashed through my eyes, leaving behind only a faint shadow of fatigue or nostalgia.

"Love? Of course, I love him."

"Otherwise, these past ten years, following him through firefights and bloodshed, what else would it have been? A game?"

"But, Dominic, love is a painkiller. Power? Power is oxygen. You can skip the pills and still live. But cut off the oxygen? You're dead in minutes."

The moment I finished speaking.

The mechanical clock in the living room chimed a few crisp notes.

Dominic glanced at his phone, a new message displayed, and reported to me.

"Latest news, Augustus Stone, the boss of the North Side, is dead. They're calling it... a heart attack."

"Mm."

My single-syllable response was cold, almost indifferent.

Dominic couldn't help but step half a pace closer, his voice tinged with confusion.

"Aren't you surprised, Raven? He was your father."

The corner of my mouth curved slightly, something like a smile.

"Why would I be surprised?"

"I did it."

Dominic's breathing hitched, his pupils constricted, the color draining from his face. I watched his pale face, my tone as calm as if discussing the weather.

"I've cleared enough obstacles from my path."

"Even a biological father... isn't an exception."

The orange glow at my fingertip burned to its end, and I casually crushed it in the ashtray. I looked at Dominic.

"Now, any more questions?"

Dominic lowered his head, not daring to ask anything further.

I stood up, picked up the gun from the table, and casually gestured toward a room.

"Didn't Silas say he wanted to keep Skylar? Then let her stay."

"The show, it's not too short for one more act."