2026-01-08 17:29:49
Previous Chapter
Latest Chapter
HUNTED BY THE PHANTOM
The Syndicate headquarters looked like something built to survive the apocalypse.Converted military bunker, buried three stories underground, concrete walls thick enough to withstand direct missile strikes. The only visible entrance was a reinforced steel door that could stop a tank. The perfect fortress for someone who had enemies and knew they were coming.Outside, in the darkness three hundred meters away, Dante's forces assembled with the silent precision of predators preparing to hunt. Night vision equipment turned the world into shades of green. Suppressed weapons rested in hands that knew how to use them. Forty-seven operators, spread across four teams, waiting for a signal.Inside the mobile command center—a converted surveillance van with more technology than most government operations—Scarlett, Sophia, and Isabella clustered around Vincent's monitors. Screens showed thermal signatures, building layouts, communication frequencies."Plan is simple," Dante's voice came through
TIME TO CALL IN OLD DEBTS
Dante studied Scarlett with the cold assessment of someone evaluating a weapon that might explode in his hand."Why would you help me?"The question hung between them, heavy with implications and three years of complicated history. Scarlett's carefully constructed mask—the socialite, the victim, the wronged wife—finally crumbled completely."Because my mother is a monster." Her voice cracked on the word. "Because Marcus is dead and I realize now he never loved me. Because everything I thought was true is a lie and I can't—I can't keep being who I was. That person was built on quicksand."She pulled out her phone with shaking hands. Her fingers swiped through old messages, stopping on a conversation thread from four months ago. Marcus's name at the top, cocky and confident even in text form."He sent me these." She turned the screen toward Dante. "Thought he was impressing me. Bragging about the Syndicate's power, their resources. Look."Dante took the phone. His eyes scanned rapidly—c
JUST THE WAY YOU MADE ME SUFFER
Dante's face did something Isabella had never seen before—it showed actual shock."Reaper." The name fell from his lips like a curse. "That's impossible."Isabella grabbed his arm, her own terror momentarily forgotten in the face of his reaction. "Who is that? Dante, who is that man?"Five years ago, somewhere in the mountains between hostile territories, Dante had led a black ops team into hell with a simple objective: eliminate a terrorist cell before they could detonate a dirty bomb in a civilian population center.The mission had been textbook until the end. Breach. Secure. Extract. The team had moved like a single organism, every member trusting the others with their lives.Cole Savage had been his second-in-command. Brilliant. Ruthless. The kind of soldier who could calculate kill zones while eating breakfast and never lose his appetite. They called him Reaper because death followed him like a shadow.The terrorist cell had been neutralized. The bomb had been secured. And then C
COMEBACK FOR REVENGE
Thirty minutes later, Dante stood in Victoria's study with Isabella beside him. The moment she saw the wall of photographs, her face drained of color so completely she looked like a ghost."That's impossible," she whispered. Her hand found the doorframe, gripping it like her legs might give out. "Victoria and I never met. Not once in twenty years."Detective Morrison pulled a file box from Victoria's desk. It was thick, overstuffed with papers and photographs that spilled out when he opened it."Mrs. Hayes had extensive files on you, Miss Ashford. Dating back twenty years." He laid out the contents with the careful precision of someone presenting evidence. "Financial records. Property purchases. Travel itineraries. She knew everywhere you went, everything you did."Isabella's breath came in short, sharp gasps. "How? Why?"The files told a story that made Dante's blood run cold. Photos of a younger Isabella with Leonard Hayes—stolen moments in cafes, walking through parks, hands intert
A DANGEROUS ENEMY
Dante's phone was back in his hand before the video could end."All assets to Hayes mansion, NOW!" His voice cut through the chaos like a blade. "Full tactical response. Assume hostile environment."The team that had been securing the basement snapped to attention. Within seconds, they were mobilizing—weapons checked, communications synced, vehicles already being pulled around.But Dante's mind was elsewhere, replaying Victoria's last words before the line cut off.The Syndicate has orders to kill everyone you care about, starting with—Starting with who? The question gnawed at him. Who did Victoria think he cared about enough to use as leverage? Sophia was safe—relatively—here with him. Scarlett was worthless as a hostage. So who?His phone rang. Isabella's name flashed on screen."Dante, police just raided Victoria's mansion." Isabella's voice was tight with urgency. "I've been monitoring emergency channels. She's gone. They found underground tunnels—looks like she escaped through t
I SHOULD HAVE KNOWN
The silence on the phone stretched like a blade being sharpened.Then Victoria's voice came through, and it was pure ice wrapped in silk."Dante. I should have known Marcus would fail like everything else."Not surprise. Not fear. Just the cold disappointment of a woman whose pawn had proven inadequate. Like she was discussing a stock that had underperformed, not a man bleeding out on a basement floor.Dante walked away from the others, his footsteps deliberate. Each stride put distance between him and Sophia, between him and Scarlett's shattered expression, between him and Marcus's whimpering. This conversation needed privacy.Not for his protection. For theirs."You tried to murder an innocent girl," he said quietly. The words were simple, but they carried the weight of judgment.Victoria laughed. It was the kind of laugh that belonged in boardrooms where lives were reduced to numbers on spreadsheets."Innocent? That bastard child was a threat to MY daughter's inheritance! Leonard's
