Chapter 1
My sister has always been obsessed with me—in an overprotective kind of way. When we were ten, she almost got kidnapped. But I took her place. I climbed into the van instead. They ransomed me back eventually, but not before they slashed up my face and shattered both of my legs. After that, something in her changed. She threw herself into our father’s business, clawed her way through the wreckage, and built it back up from nothing. To the rest of the world, she became a terrifying figure—untouchable, ruthless. But to me? I was her everything. Her soft spot. Her one weakness. Once, someone called me a freak. My sister stuffed the bastard’s head into a sack of rats until his face was unrecognizable. Another time, someone mocked me for being a cripple. My sister ran over the bastard’s legs with a steamroller… and turned him into paste. In San Diego, they called her the Queen of Hell. But in our home, she was sweet like an angel. She spent a fortune sending me to London—for reconstructive surgery, for physical therapy, for college. Just before I came back to L.A., she sent me a wedding invitation. [You’ll finally have a brother-in-law who’ll spoil you too] She texted me along with a picture of the guy. But the moment I stepped into her villa, everything went to hell. That same man—my so-called future brother-in-law—kicked the door down with a gang of thugs behind him. He thought I was just my sister’s soft, foreign-raised brother—and he took it as permission to treat me like crap. When my sister finally showed up, he pointed down at me, bruised and bleeding on the floor. “You’re picking that damn freak over me?!” he shouted. My sister’s eyes were glassy but burning with vengeance. “How many lives,” she asked, “do you think you’re worth compared to him?!” —— A loud bang echoed when the floor-to-ceiling windows shattered into a storm of glass. A crew of dangerous-looking men stormed in, all muscle and menace. As I scrambled back, stunned, my eyes locked onto the man leading them. ‘It’s… him! The guy from the photo my sister sent me a few days ago!’ Blade Durant. My soon-to-be brother-in-law. Before I could even speak, he slammed a metal rod across my face and a binding pain instantly exploded behind my eyes. I touched my nose—there was blood! My ears rang as I staggered back, feeling dizzy. “Well, well,” he spat. “Finally caught you, you little leech. Thought you could hide abroad forever?” He grabbed a golf club next—and started swinging. Head. Ribs. Chest. I tried to cover up, tried to crawl away, but I tripped and hit the ground hard. “Y-You’ve got… the wrong… idea… I’m—” But he didn’t let me finish. He shoved the metal rod into my mouth and jabbed it. Twice! Pain shot through my gums and my throat. I felt my blood pour down my chin. “Wrong idea, my ass!” he barked. “You think I don’t know you sweet-talked Dixie into buying you this villa? “You knew we were getting engaged and came crawling back to ruin it. Even if you can’t break us up, you still want to cling on and mooch off her, right? “Today, you’re gonna pay for messing around my woman!” He kicked me again, harder this time. The back of my head slammed into the coffee table. I felt it split open. Blood filled my mouth as I coughed, forcing the words out. “You’ve… You’ve got it all wrong! I’m her brother! I’m Dixie Sawyer’s… brother! “She messaged me… just a few days ago… She asked me… to come back… for the engagement—” He froze. One of the men behind him leaned in and whispered something. “I did hear the Queen has a younger brother who’s been living abroad… I think they’re twins. No one’s seen the kid, though.” Blade stared at me. “Twins? This guy doesn’t look anything like her at all.” Just then, the front door burst open, and a man with a scar across his face stepped in. ‘Scarface! One of my sister’s oldest men! He’ll recognize me. He has to!’ “S-Scarface! I-It’s me… L-Luca!” I called, my voice cracking. He stopped, staring at me like I was a ghost. “Who the hell is this kid?” he said. “How does he know me?”