Deric
The moment I stepped into Carlton’s underground compound, I felt it, the war I started. The air was filled with tension, as if the walls themselves braced for impact. His men stood in rigid silence, their expressions carefully blank, but their eyes darted to one another in quiet panic. I already knew what it was.
Carlton knew Elvira was gone.
I had barely taken three steps before the doors slammed shut behind me. The echo bounced off the metallic walls like a gunshot, and when I turned, I saw Carlton, in his navy blue suit, wine glass in hand, his eyes sharper than broken glass.
“You think I’m a goddamn fool?” His voice snapped through the air, laced with venom.
I didn’t answer. Nobody did.
“Do you know what happens when you insult a man like me? You bleed for it.” He threw the
