Serpent King's Bride: A Dark Mafia Romance Trilogy

I stood rigid by the window, my gaze fixed on the scene unfolding beyond the blinds. Justin and Derek huddled on the couch, their breaths shallow echoes of my own racing pulse. The morning sun cast a golden glow over the street, but the light couldn’t reach the cold dread that had settled over all three of us.

“Go and pack a bag,” I suddenly said. “We’re leaving.”

“But…where will we go?” Justin asked. “We can’t just leave–we have Bao and all our stuff…”

“Nathan has a place,” I said. “You can bring Bao. Nathan can complain about the cat hair later.”

At first, I’d thought maybe we should go back to Nathan’s house, since I knew it was secure and he’d given me the code to his panic room a couple weeks ago. But I had a better idea now: 118 California, where Nathan had kept me under lock and key.

Nobody knew about it.

Not even Kenny Zhou.

“I’ll go get the cat carrier,” Derek said, lifting Bao as he stood. “Should we–”

He paused at the crunching sound of tires grinding against the gravel of their parking lot, too close for comfort. My fingers twitched involuntarily towards the gun holstered at my side. With caution, I parted the blinds just enough to peer through without being seen.

Outside, two black sedans rolled to a stop at the curb across the street. Those weren’t FBI cars and they sure as hell weren’t FBI agents.

Their ominous presence sent a shiver up my spine—not from fear, but from anticipation. This was it; Kenny’s move in this deadly game of cat and mouse. Which meant it was fucking showtime.

My heart pounded against my ribcage like it was trying to break free, but my training kicked in. Focus. Observe. Plan. Execute. Every lesson I learned at Quantico, every scenario I’d rehearsed, crystallized into sharp focus. Justin’s life depended on it. Our lives depended on it.

“Triad,” I breathed, barely audible. “Your dad–I mean, Kenny’s. He knows.”

Justin’s already pale face blanched further, his eyes widening in terror. I could see the realization dawn on him—the gravity of his father’s betrayal, the depth of the danger he was in. Kenny had made his play, and we were squarely in the crosshairs.

“Time’s up,” I growled, my voice urgent and commanding. “We need to move. Now.” My steel gaze locked onto Justin and Derek, who shared the same look of fear in their eyes.

“Is there another way out?” I demanded.

“The back patio,” Justin replied, his voice shaking with terror. “But it’s a ten-foot drop.”

“It doesn’t matter,” I snapped, my determination unshakable. “We have to go now.”

Footsteps on the walkway outside…then a loud bang bang bang as they knocked.

“Move,” I hissed.

Derek was already at the closet door, easing the cat into a backpack carrier as Justin moved toward a patio door at the other end of the hallway. I watched them, my eyes flicking back to the door as another knock came, louder this time.

“Go to the car, quickly and quietly,” I instructed, my gun pointing towards the open door. “I’ll be right behind you.”

I could feel the weight of my responsibility for their safety as I watched them climb over the edge and disappear into the dim light of dawn. For a moment, I allowed myself to hope that they would make it out safely.

But there was no time for second guessing. The sound of another knock, impatient and aggressive, pierced through my thoughts. We both knew what was waiting for us on the other side: death, disguised as men who would stop at nothing to fulfill Kenny’s orders.

Fuck, fuck, fuck.

I told myself to calm down. I needed to keep cool, I couldn’t panic. I backed up, edging toward the hallway, my ears straining for any sound that would signal Justin and Derek’s successful escape. Another knock rapped ominously on the door, but it wasn’t just a knock—it was a warning of what was to come. My finger caressed the trigger of my gun, the safety now off, my stance wide and ready.

“Abby, you’ve got this,” I murmured to myself, channeling every ounce of training I had received at Quantico. This was just another day at the shooting range, moving targets that each needed a bullet to the chest. “Stay calm, stay focused, and remember your training.”

The wood of the door groaned under the force of heavy boots kicking against it. Adrenaline surged through me like fire in my veins.

“Come on, Abby, breathe,” I heard myself say the words but I didn’t remember choosing to say them. I took a deep breath.

In.