I stopped believing in second chances the day she died.

Six years ago, I burned the man I was and let the ashes scatter. Love was a
weakness, and it had shattered me beyond repair. I’d been a fool to ask for a
divorce, a bigger fool to send her away.

And then I saw the image, a brutal confirmation of what I’d done. My wife.
Executed. A single bullet to the head. Every shred of warmth, hope, and any
dream of a future died with her. Her body was never found.

In her place, something darker crawled to the surface. Colder. Ruthless. I was
nothing but smoke and ruin, and power was just the wind keeping my remains from
settling. Now, I had left was power—and the rage that kept it burning

Yet even that wasn’t enough to make me move.

I sprawled across the mattress, still dressed from the night before. My shirt
clung to me, wrinkled and stale with whiskey. Empty bottles littered the floor,
a graveyard of my only escape. Curtains smothered the room in darkness, but I
was still trapped inside the nightmare. The weight of another wasted day
pressed against my chest, thick and suffocating.

The door crashed open.

A blast of light sliced through the dark as the curtains yanked open. Pain
knifed through my skull. I groaned, burying my face in the pillow.

“Get the fuck up.” Felix’s voice cut through the haze.

“Fuck off.” My voice came out hoarse, thick with exhaustion.

Felix didn’t budge. “It’s past noon. For years, all you’ve done is drink,
sleep, and pretend to care about your own damn company. That ends now.”

I didn’t move. “You’ve been handling things just fine without me,” I muttered.

Felix crossed his arms. “Not this time. High-profile client. Urgent request.
They want you.”

I let out a hollow laugh. “Then tell them I’m dead.”

Felix sighed. “Get your ass up, or I’m coming back with an air horn. And trust
me, I’ll use it.”
I dragged a hand over my face. Another job, another meaningless distraction. I
didn’t give a damn. But Felix? He never made empty threats.

Groaning, I swung my legs over the edge of the bed. The world tilted, my skull
throbbing until it settled. “Fine,” I muttered. “But this better be worth it.”

Felix smirked, already halfway to the door. “Be ready in an hour. We’re going
to LA”
The door slammed shut, leaving me alone with the wreckage of my life.

I didn’t know it yet, but this job wasn’t just another distraction.

It was the beginning of the end of everything I thought I knew.

And that was how, without realizing it, I set myself on a collision course with
the one thing I never expected to see again.

My past.