SINCLAIR ESTATE – JUST BEFORE DAYBREAK
The sky was a soft indigo hue, stars fading as the first breath of morning light touched the city of Valemont. The mansion was still—its silence only broken by the distant humming of security drones and the occasional rustle of trees swaying in the early dawn wind.
Adrian Sinclair stepped out of his car, jaw set, knuckles still faintly red from the night’s brutality. His coat was stained at the sleeves from blood that wasn’t his.
He entered his home quietly.
Straight to the elevator. Straight to the topmost floor. His floor.
When the door to his massive monochrome room opened, the cool air wrapped around him, but it didn’t chill him.
His eyes immediately found her.
Lucia.
Curled beneath the silky covers of his black and grey bed. Her cheeks no
