Chapter 1 - The Bloody Morning
Sadie stopped breathing completely.
She stared at the polished mahogany wood, refusing to look up into the cold, calculating eyes of the most dangerous man in the city.
Declan Watcher did not ask his question a second time.
He slowly reached into his tailored suit jacket and pulled out his encrypted cell phone.
He dialed a single number and held the phone to his ear without ever breaking eye contact with his terrified maid.
He ordered his private medical team to the dining room immediately.
Sadie tried to scramble backward, but Declan’s strong hand gently caught her uninjured shoulder to keep her still.
He told her she was not leaving this room until a doctor fixed her shattered bones.
Within ten minutes, a discreet trauma surgeon was cutting the bloody dish towel and duct tape away from her swollen skin.
The doctor administered a local anesthetic and expertly set the fractured bone, wrapping it in a professional fiberglass cast.
Declan stood silently by the massive window, watching the entire procedure with an unreadable expression.
When the doctor finally left, the enormous estate fell into a heavy, suffocating silence.
Declan walked over to the table and poured a glass of expensive bourbon.
He handed the crystal glass to Sadie, ordering her to drink it for the lingering shock.
She took a shaking sip, the alcohol burning a fiery trail down her tight throat.
Declan demanded the names of the men who had dared to touch someone under his roof.
Sadie squeezed her eyes shut, terrified that speaking their names would sign her own death warrant.
She whispered that it was Silas and Vito, two enforcers who ran the illegal gambling rings for Declan’s own Southside Crew.
Declan’s jaw clenched so tightly that a muscle ticked visibly in his cheek.
He turned his back on her and walked calmly out of the dining room without saying another word.
Sadie spent a sleepless night locked inside her small servant’s quarters, waiting for the retaliation she knew was coming.
When the sun finally rose, the entire criminal underworld of the city had completely shifted.
Sadie walked cautiously into the kitchen to prepare morning coffee, her arm resting heavily in a medical sling.
The morning news was playing quietly on the small television resting on the granite counter.
The breaking news anchor reported that fifteen men connected to the Southside syndicate had mysteriously vanished overnight.
Sadie dropped her favorite ceramic coffee mug, shattering it into pieces across the tile floor.
She realized Declan had not just punished Silas and Vito for their cruelty.
He had completely eradicated their entire crew before the sun came up.
But as Sadie bent down to pick up the broken ceramics, she noticed something resting on the kitchen island.
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It was a heavy silver chain covered in dried blood.
It was the exact same necklace her younger brother Leo never took off his neck.
