Chapter 1 - The Bloody Napkin
The diner was quiet except for the low hum of the fluorescent lights and the clinking of cheap silverware.
Chloe carefully wrote her address on the paper napkin and pushed it back across the worn Formica table.
Dominic picked up the napkin, barely glancing at the messy handwriting before slipping it into his tailored pocket.
He tossed two crisp hundred-dollar bills onto the table and stood up, signaling the end of the transaction.
He told Paulie to drive Chloe and Sam back to their dilapidated apartment to pack their things immediately.
Chloe watched the intimidating mafia boss walk out into the pouring rain without looking back.
She felt a deep, terrifying mixture of absolute relief and profound regret.
She had just escaped the immediate, violent threat of Varga's loan sharks, but she had undoubtedly sold her soul to an even bigger monster.
Paulie drove them back in absolute silence, the heavy armored SUV cutting smoothly through the dark city streets.
They arrived at the decaying apartment building just as a loud clap of thunder shook the dirty windows.
Chloe told Sam to stay safely inside the locked vehicle while she quickly grabbed their meager belongings.
She ran up three flights of stairs, her wet sneakers squeaking loudly against the broken linoleum.
When she reached her apartment door, her heart instantly dropped into her stomach.
The cheap wooden door had been violently kicked completely off its rusted hinges.
Chloe slowly stepped inside, her breath catching in her throat at the absolute destruction before her.
Everything they owned had been completely smashed, ripped apart, or violently thrown out the broken window.
A tall, heavily scarred man was sitting casually on her broken sofa, cleaning a long hunting knife.
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It was Varga himself, smiling a chilling, yellow-toothed smile as he looked up at her.
He told Chloe that her debt had just doubled, and he had already sent two men downstairs to collect the little boy as a down payment.
