I’ve killed men for less than a look.I’ve burned down businesses, families, bloodlines—just to send a message.That’s who I am. That’s the world I built.Power. Fear. Control.The three things that have kept me alive longer than the doctors said I would.But none of it matters anymore.Because there’s something inside me eating me alive.And for once, it isn’t guilt.It’s real.It’s medical.And it’s killing me.My men don’t know.My enemies can’t know.If they find out I’m sick, I’m finished. This life doesn’t allow weakness. Not in me. Not in anyone who wears my name.So I pretend.I show up. I command. I kill when I have to.And I keep my illness locked in a drawer with the pills and the test results I refuse to look at anymore.Then one night, I saw her.A girl walking home alone, too soft for the city, too brave for her own good.Three punks followed her. I didn’t care—not at first. She was just another name I didn’t need to remember.But then she turned her head.And for a split second, I forgot I was dying.I stepped in. Handled it. Should’ve walked away.But I couldn’t.Her name is Ivy Gold.And whether I want her or not, she’s in my blood now.Right next to the disease that’s slowly killing me.I know I shouldn’t get close.But I will.Even if it ends badly.Even if it ends with her hating me.Even if I don’t make it out of this alive.Because for the first time in a long time…I want to---