Chapter 1 - The Bloodied King
The harsh, fluorescent lights of the hospital trauma room buzzed quietly in the midnight silence. Dr. Claire Callahan, a thirty-two-year-old trauma surgeon wearing pink scrubs, snapped on a fresh pair of medical gloves. Her brown hair was tied back in a loose, disheveled bun, her face pale with exhaustion.
The heavy double doors crashed open. Paramedics rushed a blue-sheeted stretcher into the center of the room.
The man on the stretcher was covered in blood from a brutal, coordinated ambush.
Claire stepped beside the stretcher to assess the massive trauma. As the nurses cut away the remnants of his shredded black shirt, exposing a muscular chest covered in intricate, dark tattoos, Claire looked down at his face.
Her hands completely froze. She stopped breathing.
Lying on the table was Dante Moretti. He was thirty-eight, the most feared, ruthless mafia boss in Chicago. But to Claire, he was the man who had broken her heart five years ago when he vanished without a trace to protect her from his violent world.
Claire swallowed the agonizing, unresolved grief rising in her throat. She forced herself back into a professional, clinical focus.
"Dante?" Claire whispered softly, leaning over the stretcher.
Dante’s dark brown eyes fluttered. His eyelids lifted briefly, fighting against the heavy pull of unconsciousness. A sudden, desperate flicker of recognition flashed in his eyes as he saw her fair, rosy face hovering above him.
"Claire..." Dante breathed, his voice barely audible, raw with pain.
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Claire steadies her expression, burying her heartbreak. She turned sharply toward her assisting nurse. "Get the trauma surgeon. Now."
👉 Claire fought for three grueling hours to save his life, completely unaware that the monster who ordered his execution was waiting in the lobby.
