Damian Volkov had fired every nurse who dared enter his room, and the entire mansion had learned to fear the dying mafia boss behind the forbidden door. But when my deaf four-year-old daughter slipped inside and placed her tiny hand over his failing heart, the ruthless man whispered something that made every guard in the hallway freeze.

The heavy car smashed through the underbrush, snapping branches like brittle bones.

Damian fought the steering wheel with every ounce of strength he had left.

We slammed into a large oak tree, the airbags deploying with a deafening pop.

Smoke poured from the ruined hood of the SUV as the rain continued to wash over the forest.

I frantically unbuckled my seatbelt and reached into the back seat to check on Lila.

She was crying softly, her tiny hands covering her ears, but she was entirely unharmed.

“We have to move,” Damian choked out, kicking his jammed door open.

He stumbled out into the mud, falling heavily to his knees as his heart failed him further.

I grabbed the emergency medical kit from the glovebox and rushed to his side.

“Thirty minutes,” I yelled over the storm, glancing at the flashing remote.

Damian looked up at me, his face pale as moonlight.

“He cannot get the territory codes, Clara,” Damian said with fierce resolve.

“If he takes over my syndicate, he will flood this city with drugs and destroy thousands of families.”

I wrapped my arm around his waist, hoisting the heavy man onto his feet.

“We are not letting him win, Damian,” I promised fiercely.

We marched through the dark woods, guided only by the occasional flash of lightning.

Lila held my hand tightly, her small boots squelching in the deep mud.

We eventually stumbled upon an old, abandoned hunting cabin hidden deep in the valley.

I kicked the rotting door open and helped Damian onto a dusty wooden cot.

He was shivering violently, the poison freezing his blood from the inside out.

I opened the medical kit, frantically searching for anything that could help stabilize him.

“There is an adrenaline syringe in there,” Damian whispered, his eyes rolling back slightly.

I found the thick needle and prepared to inject it directly into his thigh.

Suddenly, the wooden floorboards beneath us began to creak loudly.

The Clumsy Maid Bathed His Dog—Then The Mafia Boss Said She Wasn’t Leavi...

She found her husband with another woman and walked away so quietly that...

The Mafia Boss Asked a Disabled Widow If She Was Okay

Someone was walking around the outside of the cabin.

I turned off my flashlight, plunging us into total darkness as a shadow blocked the broken window.

Chapter 5 - The Descent