Chapter 1

My father shoved me to Silas Sterling’s feet while he was still busy counting the cash. “Three million, and she’s yours,” he muttered. He didn't even look up at Silas's polished leather shoes as he thumbed through the bills.

I knelt on the floor. The sound of my knees hitting the marble was louder than my own heartbeat.

Silas stood up from the velvet sofa. His massive six-foot-three frame was wrapped in a black silk shirt. An intricate black dragon tattoo coiled from his wrist all the way to his shoulder.

The dragon's eye rested right over his pulsing carotid artery. He stepped toward me and gripped my chin with one hand, forcing me to look up.

I expected him to snap my neck like the rumors said he would. But after staring into my eyes for three seconds, his grip suddenly softened.

“Take her to the penthouse,” he said. His voice was a low growl that seemed to vibrate from the floorboards. “If anyone touches a hair on her head, I’ll break every bone in their body personally.”

1

My father gambled me away on my eighteenth birthday. To be precise, he lost a three-million-dollar debt and used me as the collateral.

The Sterling family’s black SUVs pulled up to the entrance of our leaking alley in the East Side slums. Three men in dark suits dragged me out of the house. My father stood at the door, frantically counting a stack of hundreds.

I looked back at him one last time. He just stuffed the money into his pocket and ducked back inside.

The door slammed shut behind me.

“Let’s go, Miss Vance,” the bodyguard said. His grip felt like iron. I didn’t struggle. Growing up in these streets teaches you one thing: struggling only gets you hurt worse.

The Sterling headquarters sat in the middle of the city’s most expensive district. Silas owned the entire skyscraper. As the elevator ascended, I caught my reflection in the mirrored walls.

My hair was a mess. My school uniform sleeve was torn. My knees were already turning purple from being dragged across the floor. I looked cheaper than any piece of furniture in this building.

The penthouse doors opened to reveal a man sitting on a leather sofa.

He looked to be in his early thirties with a buzz cut and features as sharp as a blade. His sleeves were rolled up, revealing the tail of that dragon tattoo. He was spinning a butterfly knife, the blade flashing like silver fire under the lights.

My father was led in by two guards, wearing a pathetic, fawning smile. “Mr. Sterling, I brought her. Take a look―”

“Put her on the floor.”

My father blinked, then shoved me forward. I collapsed at Silas’s feet. My father didn’t care; he just grabbed the stacks of cash sitting on the coffee table.

“Three million. Every cent is here.”

He counted the bills right next to Silas’s boots. He didn't even have the courage to look the man in the eye.

Silas stood up. From my position on the floor, he looked like a moving wall. He reached down and tilted my face up.

The light blinded me for a second. His thumb brushed over the bruise on my cheekbone. He stared at me for three long seconds.

Then, he let go.

“Take her to the penthouse suite,” he commanded. His voice was dark and heavy. “Anyone who touches her will have to answer to me.”

My father shouted from behind, “Mr. Sterling, what about me―”

“Get out.”

It was a single word. My father’s smile froze as the guards hauled him away.

Before the elevator doors closed, I heard him yell, “Mia, be a good girl! Daddy will come get you in a couple of days!”

The doors clicked shut.

A couple of days. I repeated the words in my head. He said that fifteen years ago when he took me away from home. My mother waited until the day she died, and he never came back.

Silas turned to look at me.

“Get up.”

I stood. My knees were shaking, but I forced myself to stand straight.

He stared at my legs for a moment. Then, he did something I never expected. He picked up his suit jacket from the sofa and threw it over my shoulders.

“It’s cold.”

That was it. He walked into the inner room and closed the door. I stood in the middle of the luxury suite, wrapped in his scent―leather and a hint of cold steel.

I didn’t sleep that night. I was terrified that if I closed my eyes, I’d wake up back in that leaking alley.