Serpent King's Bride: A Dark Mafia Romance Trilogy

It was Ba.

Shit.

“Ba?” I answered, trying to keep the edge from my voice.

“Nathan,” he said, his tone clipped and urgent. “Come to the den. Now.”

I hesitated, a thousand questions pressing against the back of my throat, but I knew better than to ask. When the Serpent summoned, you didn’t question—you came.

“I’m on my way,” I replied, already heading for the door.

The drive over to the den was a blur of streetlights and shadows, the city passing by in a wash of indifference. Anxiety gnawed at me, an unwelcome companion whispering sinister possibilities into my ear. What could Ba want that couldn’t wait? My mind raced with scenarios, none of them good.

I pulled up to one of the many entrances to the tunnel network beneath Chinatown, the familiar sense of dread settling like lead in my gut. This place was a sanctuary for some, a tomb for others. As I parked and killed the engine, I sat for a moment, gathering my resolve. Whatever lay ahead, I needed to face it head-on, for Abby’s sake if not my own.

With a deep breath, I pushed open the car door and stepped into the night, the cool air a stark juxtaposition to the heat that churned within me. My footsteps echoed hollowly as I approached the entrance, each step bringing me closer to the unknown.

“Keep it together, Nathan,” I murmured to myself. “Just another meeting with Ba.” But the words were a thin veil, and behind them lurked the truth.

In this life, nothing was ever just anything.

Once inside the musty, dimly lit corridor that led to the den, I pulled out my phone with a shaky hand. Texting Abby felt like trying to hold onto normalcy by a thread. “Going out for a bit,” I tapped on the screen, hoping to reassure her without giving away the storm brewing inside me. My thumb hovered over the send button, then pressed down, releasing a breath I hadn’t realized I’d been holding.

Message not sent. Try again.

The words flashed up on my screen, and a spike of panic shot through me. I tried again, but no dice. The lack of signal in these tunnels was common knowledge, but tonight, it felt like a bad omen. A cold sweat broke out on my forehead as I pocketed the useless device.

“Calm down, Nathan,” I told myself, pressing forward into the darkness. The weight of the earth above seemed to press down on me, suffocating in its finality.

The guards were stationed as usual, but tonight they stood motionless, like statues carved from stone. Six of them, lined up with military precision, their eyes following me as I passed. Something was off. They weren’t any of the guys I knew—no nods of recognition, no muttered hellos—just silent sentinels guarding a threshold I wasn’t sure I wanted to cross.

“Evening,” I said, my voice sounding hollow in the silence. No response. Only the steady gaze of men I couldn’t call allies.

The office door lay open, an unspoken invitation—or maybe a challenge. I hesitated at the threshold, taking in the scene. It looked the same as always, but the air felt charged, heavy with unspoken threats. Dark red still stained the floor where we’d had our meal after the initiation, Mengyao Sun’s blood left behind like a trophy.

The Serpent was hunched over his desk as though the weight of our entire empire rested squarely on his shoulders. The map I’d seen earlier still lay sprawled out before him, now marred with new markings—X’s and circles scrawled in red ink that seemed to pulse with urgency.

“Ba,” I greeted cautiously, stepping into the room.

“Sit down, Nathan,” he said without looking up, his voice gravelly, like the grind of earth during a landslide.

I pulled out the chair across from him and sat, my heart thumping a rhythm of dread against my ribs. Silence hung between us, filled only by the scratch of his pen as he marked another location with a heavy X.

Kenny finally set the pen down and locked eyes with me. His gaze had always been sharp, but tonight it cut through me, probing for weaknesses. He pushed away from the desk and stood, moving toward an aged mahogany cabinet.

“Your mother says Abigail is adjusting well to her vows?” he asked, his tone light, almost playful, but there was no warmth in his eyes.

“Yes,” I answered, confusion tightening my chest. It wasn’t like him to make small talk, especially not now, with tension coiling in the air like a viper ready to strike.

He opened the cabinet and rummaged briefly before pulling out a knife. The blade caught the dim light, glinting ominously. He turned to face me, the knife held casually at his side. My mouth went dry, the hum of blood in my ears drowning out all other sound.

“Something on your mind, Ba?” I managed to say, forcing steadiness into my voice I didn’t feel.

The Serpent’s lips twitched into a semblance of a smile, but it didn’t reach his eyes. “You’re sharper than I give you credit for, Nathan,” he said, weighing the knife in his hand as though it were no more than a paperweight. “I fear I may have underestimated you.”

My fingers gripped the arms of the chair, knuckles whitening. “What are you talking about?” I asked, my pulse hammering in my throat.

“Betrayal,” he stated plainly, as if discussing the weather. “You think it’s Alex stirring the pot, but it’s not that simple.” He paused, and his gaze bore into me. “It might be someone else. Someone closer.”