Chapter 3

A dozen bodyguards in black rushed at Ares.

He stood perfectly still, radiating an aura as deep and dark as an abyss.

"Paul, I strongly suggest you call your men off right now. Otherwise, they're all going to die."

Paul burst out laughing like he'd just heard the funniest joke in the world.

"Ares, are you threatening me?"

Ares shook his head calmly. "No. I'm warning you."

The words had barely left his mouth when the lead bodyguard closed to within a foot of him.

Ares slowly raised his hand.

In front of everyone watching, he snapped his fingers.

A sharp gunshot cracked through the air.

A hole appeared in the lead bodyguard's forehead. He dropped instantly.

The entire hall went dead silent.

Then screams and chaos erupted like a wave breaking.

The remaining bodyguards finally snapped into action, reaching for the guns at their waists.

But the rapid, deadly gunfire had already beaten them to it.

In seconds, every single one of the dozen bodyguards took a bullet between the eyes and collapsed into pools of blood.

The guests in the hall — people who considered themselves high society — completely fell apart. Some screamed and threw themselves on the floor. Others ran around in blind panic.

"Nobody moves!"

Ares let out a cold snort, his voice cutting like ice.

"Move, and you die."

Then he stepped forward and appeared in front of Paul in an instant, delivering a vicious slap across his face.

Paul cried out and tumbled to the ground, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth.

He screamed at Ares in fury. "You bastard! How dare you—"

"Why wouldn't I dare?"

Ares cut him off, planting his foot hard on Paul's chest.

"When you killed my sister Evelyn, did you ever think this day would come?"

Ares looked down at him with cold, murderous eyes, like he was staring at a corpse.

"You want to kill me?" Paul tried to sound composed, but the fear bled through his bluster. "Do you know whose territory this is? This is Antonelli family property! You kill me, and you're not walking out of this building alive!"

"Is that so?"

Ares pressed his earpiece, his voice completely flat.

"Hankins. Detonate one of the C4s on the first floor."

The entire building shook violently. Glass shattered everywhere.

Terrified screams filled the room. Someone even wet themselves in fear, but not a single person dared to move. They all stayed flat on the ground.

"You planted bombs in the hotel?"

Paul stared in horror, his voice cracking.

Ares's face was expressionless, his eyes cold as a blade.

"Fifty C4s, placed in every corner of this building. One word from me, and this whole place — everyone inside it — turns to ash."

"You're insane!" Paul screamed, shaking. "There are over a thousand people in here! You're out of your mind! You—"

Ares suddenly bent down and grabbed Paul by the throat, lifting him clean off the ground.

"I am insane. Because you killed my sister."

"She was just an innocent girl. She had nothing against you. Why did you kill her? Just to find out what was on that dealer five years ago?"

Paul's face turned red, his breathing cut off. He beat frantically at Ares's arm with both hands but couldn't make a sound.

"Useless piece of trash."

Ares hurled him to the ground like a bag of garbage.

Before Paul could scramble up, Ares drove his foot down hard onto his chest.

The crack of breaking bone rang out.

Paul's chest caved in. He let out a wretched scream and spat up a mouthful of blood.

"Talk. Who told you that I took what was on that dealer five years ago?"

Ares demanded, his voice ice cold.

Paul coughed up bloody foam, screaming weakly. "I — I don't know! You son of a bitch! You—"

Ares raised his hand and curled one finger.

A single gunshot.

An Antonelli family member standing behind Paul took a bullet between the eyes and hit the floor.

"Keep quiet, and I'll drag your parents in here and cut the flesh off their bodies piece by piece and make you eat it."

Ares's voice was terrifyingly calm, like he was simply stating a fact.

"No! No, please! You can't do that!"

Paul finally broke completely, sobbing uncontrollably.

"It was the Chaykos family! They're the ones who told me — five years ago, you took a USB drive off that dealer. It had records of every money laundering deal between the Antonelli family and the Chaykos family."

"The guy who took the drive was our accountant. He was going to run with it, but your sister's boyfriend — the dealer you killed — robbed him first."

"So I went after Evelyn to find out where the drive was. I never meant to kill her! She — she fought back too hard, and I — it was an accident..."

Ares's Desert Eagle roared and blew Paul's arm apart.

"My sister is dead because of you, and you have the nerve to call it an accident?"

Ares raised the Desert Eagle, pressing the barrel against Paul's head.

Paul begged in agony. "No! Please don't kill me! I have money — I'll give you whatever you want! Half of everything the Antonelli family owns — it's yours!"

"Money?" The killing intent in Ares's eyes burned hotter. "No amount of money brings my sister back. Today, you pay with your life."

His finger slowly tightened on the trigger.

"Stop!"

A sharp voice rang out from the second floor.

A silver-haired old man descended the staircase, surrounded by a ring of bodyguards.

It was Henry — head of the Antonelli family, and Paul's father.

Henry walked through the wall of bodyguards and stopped in front of Ares, his eyes dark and heavy.

"Young man. Do you know what you're doing?"

Ares turned and looked at him without expression.

"Collecting a debt for my sister."

"I'm sorry about your sister. Truly." Henry spoke slowly. "But you've already killed enough people. Let my son go. I'll act like none of this happened — and I'll give you enough money to last several lifetimes and get you safely out of Chicago."

Ares let out a cold laugh. "You're trying to make a deal with me?"

"It's not a deal. It's a warning." Henry's smile turned hard. "You think planting bombs gives you free rein? My men have this building surrounded. You're not going anywhere."

"You're threatening me?"

The murderous look in Ares's eyes exploded. He swung his hand and cracked it across Henry's face.

The slap echoed through the hall.

Henry cried out and crashed to the floor.

Every person in the room went speechless.

Henry was the head of one of the most powerful families in Chicago — and he'd just been slapped to the ground in front of everyone, like a dog with a broken spine.

In that moment, every single person in the room had the same thought.

Ares was finished.