Chapter 1
Club Inferno - Present Day
The music hit first.
Low and relentless, the bass reverberated through Elena's chest, each pulse of sound making the walls seem to tremble. It was a heartbeat - the heartbeat of the city's elite, of the power they thought they controlled. Velvet shadows clung to the walls, shifting like they were alive, alive in a way the people here didn't quite realize.
This was the Inferno. The underworld. The heart of the Salvatore syndicate. And tonight, it was Elena's battleground.
She stood in front of the long bar, adjusting the fit of her dress in the mirror. It was black, tight enough to show her curves without giving too much away - exactly what she'd intended. A dress that whispered luxury but screamed nothing else.
Her dark hair was slicked back, tied into a high ponytail, and the makeup was sharp: smoky eyes, pale skin, and a touch of red on her lips. She'd transformed herself into Eva Morales, a new bartender with a past she was leaving behind - at least for tonight.
For years, she'd been trained to infiltrate, to seduce information from men who thought they were untouchable. But this... this was different.
The Salvatore empire had destroyed her family. And now, it was time to return the favor.
Elena took a deep breath. She didn't need to think about what was at stake. She couldn't afford to. Her mind needed to be sharp, precise. The room around her was filled with the city's elite - billionaires, criminals, politicians - but she only had eyes for one man: Dante Salvatore. The man at the center of it all.
The man who didn't know that she had already walked into his trap.
Tonight, everything would change.
Her pulse quickened as she took her first step toward the bar. The club was alive with energy: bodies pressed against each other on the dancefloor, laughter spilling over the sound of music, the sweet scent of expensive perfume and aged whiskey floating in the air. Elena wove through the crowd, her every movement fluid, practiced. A seasoned infiltrator. She was here to blend in.
But the moment she reached the bar, everything else faded into the background.
The shift was so subtle, it almost felt like a whisper. Then, a shadow moved through the crowd, like a predator cutting through its prey.
She didn't have to look to know who it was.
Dante Salvatore walked into the room like he owned the world, and maybe he did. His presence was impossible to ignore, like the gravity of the moon pulling everything around it. He moved with a slow, deliberate grace - tall, broad-shouldered, and radiating an untouchable aura that made the room fall into place around him. The music seemed to dim slightly as he walked. People shifted to make space, but no one dared to stare too long.
Dante didn't need to command the room. It did so automatically.
Black tailored suit, midnight blue shirt open just enough to reveal the faintest hint of tattoos at the collarbone, expensive shoes that barely made a sound on the polished marble floors. A man who was both polished and dangerous, wrapped up in a package of effortless elegance.
He didn't even glance at the people around him - his gaze was already locked on her.
Her heart skipped, and for a moment, Elena almost forgot herself. Almost.
She couldn't let him see her falter. He'd take advantage of that weakness faster than she could breathe. She kept her chin high, lips slightly parted in what she hoped was a casual smile. It didn't matter how dangerous he was. She was the one in control tonight.
But Dante wasn't just looking at her.
He was studying her.
His eyes - a piercing shade of gray, almost silver in the low light - swept over her, assessing her with an intensity that made her feel exposed, naked, as if he could see right through the layers of her carefully constructed persona.
And then, that smile. It appeared slowly, like a cat's grin before it pounces.
"Eva Morales," he said, his voice a low rumble, barely audible over the music. But it didn't need to be loud. His words carried weight, a promise of something dark beneath the surface. "You're new here."
Her breath hitched, but she didn't let it show. "I am."
His gaze flicked to her name tag, then back to her eyes. It lingered there for a beat too long, just long enough to make her stomach flip. "What brings you to my little corner of the world?" His lips twisted, a smile that didn't reach his eyes. A game. And she was the pawn.
"I need the work," she replied smoothly, maintaining her calm. "And I hear your club pays well."
Dante's gaze slid down her body, lingering for a moment on her curves before rising back to her face. His smile deepened, and this time, it was a promise - of danger, of seduction, of secrets she wasn't ready to learn.
"Don't worry, I'll take good care of you," he said, his voice dropping a little lower, like the words were meant for her alone. He stepped closer, closing the distance between them. The warmth of his body hit her like a wave, and for the briefest moment, Elena almost lost herself in it.
He was right there. So close. She could reach out, feel the tension in his muscles, the raw power that radiated from him. She had to remind herself why she was here.
It wasn't for this.
It wasn't for him.
"I'm sure you will," she replied, voice steady, betraying none of the emotions stirring beneath the surface.
He leaned in just enough that she could feel the heat of his breath against her skin. "I think we're going to get along very well, Eva."
And then he was gone, moving through the crowd with the ease of a predator slipping back into the shadows.
But Elena didn't move. She stayed where she was, her heart pounding, her thoughts a swirl of danger and desire.
She'd just made the first move in a game she couldn't afford to lose.
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Note: This wasn't her first time here but it was the first time she was meeting with the boss