THE DEVIL'S ROSE "CLAIMED BY THE MAFIA LORD:

own silence cou

ed long, soaked in the sound of her own breathing, the tick of the gild

in fragments-Marissa's face, Marissa's scream, blood po

me and with it, somet

through a stranger's eyes. Pale skin. Hollow cheeks. Da

offee in one hand and a textbook in the other. That girl died on

red of being afraid. Tired of pre

e kno

said t

it. I'l

pped. No o

ened a different door-the one that

he belly of

stopped. The art disappeared. It smelled of smoke and

ed a heavy

ed it and st

d him insid

ted-then ste

m swall

hed danger. A large oak desk dominated the room, its surface cluttered with old papers, a half

tobacco drifted thr

here

n Ser

not like

actually. Just black slacks slung low on his hips, barefoot, his bare chest a canvas of tat

ze in the

ust, not quite-but something just as confusing. S

ength in his muscles-it was the stories etched across them

the orange tip of the cigar g

ce," he said, voice

nodded

of smoke and leaned for

ould know wh

bars across a door on the far side of the room. She noticed a man tied t

swal

ouse runs on rules. You break them, you pay. You lie, you b

ghtened. "And if

ted hi

don

ence

r between his fingers. His bare feet moved silently acr

said, voice almost gentle.

ded. "I

ife. No more little drea

just in f

he said, voice quiet, "

up at him, he

aid, though it tasted like a

er face for

they all say,

back to the desk. The man in the chair behin

n't even l

the light. "You'll have a room. A keycard. Your

"You'll have a new name

a bl

as r

had

he scream and the b

drink, then lo

quickly, or yo

rough a side door, the soft click of it c

stood

tied man

ll of whiske

decision settling lik

were a blur of locked

just simple jeans and shirts, neutral t

was now A

ard routines. A woman named Rosa was assigned to her. Stern,

at

it

llo

na

d like smoke, and in its place was this strange, cold existence-waiting for order

eams c

His voice. His scars. The way his eyes looked when h

walked into a room was just the trauma. That the heat crawli

idn't feel

what his lips tasted like wh

ated hers

on his chest and blood on his hands

cage, he was the only

, she started to understand

dn't just m

nt becoming somet

world, she would

she

lling to beco