Page 1 of Crimson Reign

1

Prologue

IthoughtIknewterror.

I was wrong.

Terror isn’t the sharp crack of gunfire that shattered our bedroom window three months ago. It isn’t watching my husband’s body jerk as bullets tore through him, or the way his blood felt, hot and sticky between my fingers as I begged him to stay with me.

Real terror comes after.

It’s seeing your eighteen-month-old daughter’s innocent face and knowing the same monsters who murdered her father could snuff out her life without blinking.

It’s being forced to sit in this dimly lit room in the Carusos compound, processing their paperwork, knowing one wrong move means Fiona pays the price.

The clock on the wall ticks past midnight. Fiona sleeps peacefully in the makeshift crib they’ve allowed me to keep in here—a cruel kindness, a reminder of what I have to lose. Her dark curls are damp withsweat, little fingers curled into fists. She looks so much like Mark,it makes my chest ache.

They don’t know what I have. What Mark died protecting. The USB drive remains safely hidden in the place I hid it the night they captured us. Its contents would bring their entire empire crashing down.

But I can’t use it. Not while they have me and Fiona under their thumb.

A door slams somewhere in the compound, followed by shouting.

I stiffen, my heart rate spiking. Usually, the night shift is quiet, but something’s different tonight. The guards are running, their boots thundering down the hallway outside our room.

More gunshots. Closer this time.

Fiona stirs, and I’m already moving, scooping her up before she can cry. I press her face against my shoulder, humming softly to keep her quiet as chaos erupts beyond our locked door.

Something is happening. Something big enough to scatter the Carusos’ usually disciplined soldiers like rats from a sinking ship.

The doorknob rattles.

I back away, clutching Fiona tighter as the lock clicks. When the door swings open, I’m expecting Massimo Caruso’s sneering face or one of his thugs.

Instead, I stare into gray eyes that are as dark and merciless as a starless night. A man I’ve only seen in whispered rumors and newspaper clippings.

The feared fixer of the Bellanti family.

Matteo Bellanti.

Blood stains his expensive suit, but his hands are steady on the gun pointed at us.

And in this moment, as his gaze meets mine, I realize I have a choice to make.

Because sometimes salvation comes wearing the devil’s face, and sometimes the only way out of hell is to make a deal with a different demon.

Fiona whimpers against my neck, and I see something flicker in his deadly eyes.

Something that makes me think maybe, just maybe, this demon might be my only chance at keeping my daughter alive.

God help me, I’m about to find out.

2

Matteo

Mercyhasaprice,and I collect mine with interest.

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