Chapter 1 - The Monster’s Retreat
Julian Rossi did not move. He did not breathe. For ten agonizing seconds, the only sound in the cavernous master suite was the ragged, hyperventilating sobs of the woman bleeding on his floor.
Please don't use the cane tonight.
The words echoed in his skull, deafening and horrific. Julian had spent his entire life in the shadows of the Boston underworld. He had seen violence in its most depraved forms. But looking at the mutilated canvas of Clara Sterling’s back, a profound, sickening nausea coiled in his gut.
He slowly backed away, raising his hands where she could see them, treating her like a wild, wounded animal.
"I am not going to hurt you," Julian said, his voice a low, gravelly whisper. It was the softest tone he had used in years. "Clara. Look at me. I am not going to touch you."
Clara remained curled in a fetal position, her knuckles white as she held the torn silk against her chest. She didn't believe him. Why would she? She had been traded from one monster to another.
Julian turned his back to her—a deliberate show of vulnerability—and walked to the intercom on the wall. He pressed the button. "Maria. Get up here. Now. And bring the medical kit."
Five minutes later, Maria, Julian’s fiercely loyal housekeeper who had practically raised him, burst into the room. She took one look at Julian’s pale, furious face, and then saw the trembling girl on the floor.
"Out," Maria ordered, her maternal instincts overriding her fear of the boss. "Get out of here, Julian."
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Julian didn't argue. He walked out of the suite, the heavy oak doors clicking shut behind him. He stood in the dimly lit hallway, his fists clenched so tightly his knuckles cracked. He had married Clara to break Arthur Sterling. But Arthur had already broken her.
Julian walked down to his study, poured a massive glass of scotch, and threw the crystal tumbler at the stone fireplace. It shattered into a thousand pieces. The war wasn't over. It had just changed targets.
