THE BLEEDING HEART

RUTHLESS

Chapter 9: SHADOWS OF UNDERWORLD

The transition from a sophisticated corporate CEO to a ruthless underworld mafia don always happened under the shroud of midnight. While the city slept, Kenneth Anthers shed his tailored business suits and stepped into a world of concrete, iron, and blood.

On a quiet Tuesday night, just hours after he had fiercely marked Ian’s cheek in the office and driven away the male manager in a fit of unspoken jealousy, Kenneth sat on a makeshift leather chair inside a dimly lit, abandoned warehouse near the city’s edge. The air inside the cavernous structure was suffocating, thick with the heavy stench of rust, stale sweat, and fresh copper blood.

In the center of the room, tied to a heavy steel chair beneath a single, flickering spotlight, a bruised and bloody traitor was gasping for air. Two of Kenneth's enforcers stood over the man, their hands bloodied. Kenneth watched the interrogation with an expression of absolute, freezing detachment.

His dark eyes, which had softened just a fraction around Ian earlier that day, were now completely vacant of any human warmth. He was a predator in his natural habitat.Kenneth’s second-in-command, a gruff, scarred man named Marcus, stepped out of the shadows and handed him a thick folder.

"We finally traced the data leak from the northern docks, boss," Marcus reported, his voice low and gravelly. "It leads directly back to the old factions. The underground syndicates that Harver aligned with before he completely vanished from the country."

Hearing Ryan’s last name—the name of the ex-lover who had shattered his capacity to trust and left him cold—made Kenneth’s entire body go rigid. A wave of dark, venomous fury rippled through his veins. His grip tightened around the folder until the thick paper crumpled and tore beneath his fingers, his knuckles turning stark white.

"Find every single one of them," Kenneth commanded, his voice a low, lethal whisper that sent a shiver down the spines of his own men. "Eradicate them entirely. I want no remnants of his memory, or his allies, left alive in this city. If they resist, eliminate them on the spot."

"Understood, boss," Marcus nodded smoothly.He paused for a moment, adjusting his posture before bringing up a more sensitive matter. "And... what about your new secretary? My sources in the main office say the boy has been subtly asking the security team about your late-night schedules and why your car leaves the building at odd hours."

Kenneth’s eyes narrowed into dangerous slits. His mind instantly flashed to the image of Ian’s wide, innocent, sky-blue eyes, and the ghost of the boy's soft whimpers from the night they shared in his penthouse rushed back to him.

The thought of Ian—so fragile, so clumsy, and so heartbreakingly pure—getting anywhere near the blood-soaked reality of the mafia made Kenneth’s chest tighten with a sudden, suffocating panic.

"He is a civilian," Kenneth snapped, his tone dangerously sharp. "He knows absolutely nothing about this side of my life, and he never will. Keep him far away from this. If he digs too deep, I will dispose of him myself."But even as the cold, threatening words left his lips, Kenneth knew he was lying to himself. He would never harm a single hair on Ian’s head.

In reality, he was terrifyingly desperate to protect the boy from the very darkness he ruled over.The next morning, the bright sun illuminated the executive floor of Horizon company , completely erasing the shadows of the underworld.

Ian arrived early, his body still slightly aching from the intimate night they had shared, and his heart still heavy from Kenneth’s command to "forget everything." Yet, despite the pain of rejection, Ian’s love for his boss only grew stronger, fueled by the subtle, possessive care Kenneth had started to show him