BROKEN IN HIS SHADOWS

ia's

ng wallpaper a mirror of my unraveling life. I leaned against the wall, my heart r

thick with menace. "Three months' rent, girl. Yo

to Grandpa's nursing home fees, his cancer treatments, his final days. He'd been my anchor after my parents died in a car crash when I was 11, raising me with stor

said, my voice shaking

weetheart. You're a pretty thing, no money, no family

lf I owned, but now, with Grandpa's medical debts still piled up and no one to turn to, his words gnawed at my resolve. At

ed, my voice finding steel,

pilling over my face. Tears stung my hazel eyes, but I forced them back. Crying wouldn't erase the debts or the ache of a life that had taken everyt

r & Grill, a downtown dive desperate enough to hire a girl

------------------------

my last clean shirt, my deep brown skin glistening under the dim lights, my curls in a messy bun. The crowd was a mix of drunk

ver here!" a red-faced man in a ch

I slammed a whiskey on his table. "Enjoy," I

gers greasy. "Stay a while, sweeth

s wobbling. "Touch me again, and you'll choke on that

plus tips was my only shield against eviction. But as the night dragged on, the leers, the grabs, the insults chipped

er's office, ripping off my apron and throwing it on hi

is ledger. "You'll be ba

back, "but not t

no future, what was left? The humid Florida night pressed against me, my sneakers s

O

the air rushing past. My heart slammed against my ribs, my bre

suit, leapt out, his face flushed. "Are

existence bother you?" I shouted, my hands shaking. "Maybe I should'v

driver's eyes narrowed, his voice cold. "Craz

to the man in the backseat, his gaze fixed

-----------------------

an's

tware report on my tablet, the tech empire I'd built as a shield from my true legacy, the Blackwood Empire, the mafia of all mafias, ruling Europe, America, and Asia. At 28, I was a billionai

gh the night, his silence steadying me. In Florence,

tumbling back from the curb, her dark curls wild, her hazel eyes blazing with a fire that stopped my br

deep brown skin glowing under the streetlights, her curvy fra

veiling a sorrow I knew too well, her worn sneakers and fierce gaze telling a story of st

lumped, I leaned forward, my voice

back, puz

ill on her retreating form. "Nam