Chapter Nineteen

Ethan Leo sat in the backseat of his black SUV, the soft hum of the engine the only sound breaking the silence. The vehicle was parked discreetly in front of an abandoned fuel station in Tempa, the notorious part of town where shadows ruled and secrets were traded like currency. Tempa had always been fertile ground for the mafia's business ventures, where desperation and desire fed the underworld's endless hunger for power and profit. It was here that fortunes were made and lives were lost, and tonight was no different.

Ethan wore a black mask, a symbol of the persona he embodied when he became Hades—the feared and ruthless leader of Hell's Gang. The mask was not just a cover but a mantle of authority that separated him from the man he was behind closed doors. In Tempa, he was not Ethan Leo, the heir to the Leo empire, but the enigmatic and unforgiving king of the underworld.

A sharp, double knock on his car window distracted him. It was the signal he'd been waiting for. He pressed th