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The world’s deadliest criminals fear Ethan Quinn—but his new wife thinks he’s a worthless prison guard. At Blackgate Penitentiary, assassins, warlords, and crime lords obey Ethan without question. One word from him can make a mass murderer break his own legs. One slap can drop the Terror King, a monster an entire military unit barely captured. Then Ethan’s father orders him to leave prison and marry Audrey Shaw, his beautiful childhood friend. Audrey agrees—but only because her father forces her. The moment they get their marriage certificate, she warns Ethan not to touch her and promises they’ll divorce as soon as possible. Her family mocks his job, calls his priceless bourbon fake, and treats him like a broke nobody. The next day, Audrey brings Ethan to meet her wealthy friends, hoping he won’t embarrass her. Instead, the city’s most feared crime boss appears—and Ethan smiles. Because he knows exactly who’s about to kneel. ... Blackgate Penitentiary held the worst criminals on earth. Spies who had stolen national secrets. Assassins who had targeted presidents. Warlords who had massacred thousands. In the Warden’s study, Ethan Quinn sat in a correctional officer’s uniform, calmly practicing calligraphy. He formed each character one deliberate stroke at a time. The lines came out firm and powerful, the work of someone with all the patience in the world despite the chaos outside the study. “Number Two!” A guard stumbled through the door. “The God of Death and Greedy Wolf are fighting!” Ethan finished the last stroke and handed him the page. “Show them this. Three days cleaning toilets. If they complain, tell them I’ll put their heads in one again.” The guard snatched it. “Yes, Number Two!” The God of Death was the world’s most feared assassin, imprisoned for attacking an Atlantic Republic president. Greedy Wolf had led a vast criminal organization and trafficked nuclear warheads. Either man could terrify a government. At Blackgate, a page of Ethan’s handwriting was enough. Another guard rushed in. “The Butcher says the food’s garbage. He’s already injured several men.” Ethan tossed him a second page. “One month washing dishes. If he refuses, I’ll hang him over the yard for three days.” Before Ethan could return to his work, a third guard appeared. “Night Demon tore apart solitary confinement!” Ethan rubbed his forehead. “Tell him to break both his legs and stay in his cell for a month. Every day he cuts short earns him a day in the sewage pit.” The guard ran. “This little prison never gives me a minute,” Ethan muttered. “The Warden disappears for three years and leaves me all the fun.” During his routine yard inspection, every inmate stood at attention and lowered his eyes. A billionaire oligarch hurried over with a cigarette. “Number Two, could you deliver a letter to my family? I’ll give you fifteen million dollars.” The Union’s disgraced former richest man bowed. A former Atlantic Intelligence Directorate chief did the same. Any one of them could shake the outside world. Here, none dared meet Ethan’s gaze. The oligarch kept the cigarette held out with both hands, still hoping Ethan might take the letter. Nobody laughed at his offer. In any other place, fifteen million dollars would have bought attention. At Blackgate, money meant less than Ethan’s mood. “I’m in a bad mood,” Ethan said. “Don’t cause trouble.” The yard went still. Back in his office, another guard arrived. This time, a beautiful general had brought a prisoner and demanded to see him. Outside, dozens of soldiers surrounded a steel cage. The man inside smiled darkly. “When I get out, every one of you dies.” The soldiers looked away, afraid he might remember their faces. Beside the cage stood a tall woman with two general’s stars on her shoulders. Lt. Gen. Victoria Young, heir to the powerful Young family, watched Ethan approach in his carelessly worn uniform. “You’re Ethan Quinn?” He glanced at the cage. “Who’d you bring me?” “The Terror King, one of the underworld’s Four Kings.” She handed him the transfer papers. Ethan signed. “You asked for me?” “I’m Victoria Young. I came to tell you we live in different worlds.” Recognition flickered across his face. Her gaze settled on his insignia. Correctional Officer II. Once the heir to the Quinn family, he now guarded a forgotten prison. “I’m ending our engagement.” She tore their family agreement in half. “Any objections?” The soldiers behind her looked at Ethan with open contempt. How could a minor correctional officer deserve a lieutenant general? “I know this hurts,” Victoria said. “As compensation, bring me this card and ask for two favors. You should leave this place. Perhaps you can still return to your family dynasty.” She gestured toward the cage. “Keep him locked up. We lost elite soldiers capturing him, and even I was injured.” She left without waiting for an answer. In the vehicle, Victoria decided Ethan’s silence proved he understood the gulf between them. If he came begging, she might arrange a modest military future for him. Behind her, Ethan crushed the card to powder. “What a lunatic.” He unlocked the cage. The Terror King shoved open the door. “You should’ve listened to her. So the Union’s War Goddess dumped you? That’s almost too pathetic to—” Ethan slapped him once. The notorious criminal dropped unconscious. “I told everyone I’m in a bad mood.” Ethan dragged him inside by one ankle. A courier hurried up and handed him an envelope. “Number Two, your letter.” Ethan saw the handwriting and straightened. “It’s from my father.”“He wants me to marry Audrey Shaw?” Ethan stared at his father’s letter. Audrey had been his childhood friend, already pretty enough back then to promise trouble later. The Warden’s instructions left no room for argument. The next morning, Blackgate’s inmates nearly threw a parade as Ethan packed to leave. “Keep records,” he told the guards with a pleasant smile. “If anyone causes trouble while I’m gone, I’ll settle every account when I return.” The cheering died instantly. Ethan swept his gaze over the usual instigators, then left the prison he’d called home for more than a decade and boarded a flight to Harbor City. For more than ten years, those walls had been his whole world. The inmates might celebrate his departure, but one look from him reminded them that his absence was temporary. Several men quietly lowered the noisemakers they had prepared. In first class, he stopped short. Victoria Young sat two rows away in black civilian clothes, looking every bit as commanding without her uniform. The cabin held only eight seats. Of all the flights and all the places he could have been assigned, he had landed in the same tiny compartment as the woman who had torn up their engagement the day before. Her aide, Lana Drake, glared at him. “General Young told you that you live in different worlds. Following her onto a plane is embarrassing.” Ethan pulled out a magazine and ignored them. Victoria’s expression cooled. A man ought to know when to let go. At Blackgate, he had been too stunned to speak. Now he had apparently followed her in silence. Three men suddenly burst into the cabin and aimed handguns at her. “General Young,” their leader said. “Arresting our boss caused us a lot of trouble.” Passengers froze. Lana went pale. The Terror King’s followers had somehow carried weapons aboard. No one could understand how three armed men had cleared airport security. The narrow cabin offered nowhere to run, and the muzzles were already trained on Victoria before anyone could call for help. Ethan lowered his magazine, took in the scene, then raised it again. From where he sat, he was outside the gunmen’s direct line of sight. Lana looked at him twice, silently begging him to create an opening. He kept reading. Coward, she thought. Thank God Victoria had broken the engagement. Victoria remained expressionless. “So Big Beard still had men outside. Or was someone else backing him?” “Not your concern. You’re coming with us.” Lana glanced at Ethan again. He didn’t move. Victoria smiled. “Traditional martial artists have a saying. At arm’s length, one fighter can face a nation.” “Shut up and move!” She exploded from her seat. One smooth motion stripped the leader’s gun away and drove the edge of her hand into his throat. Before the other two could react, she struck each in the head. Both crashed to the floor. In seconds, all three gunmen were down. No passenger had been harmed. “My apologies for the disturbance,” Victoria said. “I’ll have them removed without delaying the flight.” A passenger recognized her. “You’re Lieutenant General Victoria Young—the Union’s rising war hero!” The cabin erupted in admiration. By the time military personnel hauled the attackers away, everyone felt safer simply because she remained aboard. Lana looked at Ethan with disgust. Victoria approached him. “Stop following me. Nothing will change my decision.” “Try it again,” Lana added, “and I won’t be polite.” The other passengers studied Ethan like a nobody reaching for a princess. He ignored them all. When the plane landed in Harbor City, he picked up his bag and left without a word. Lana noticed an envelope on his seat. Inside was the Warden’s letter. Victoria read enough to understand. “He wasn’t following me. He came to meet another woman.” “Probably for the best,” Lana said. “Yes. Now he can finally let go.” Outside the airport, Ethan spotted a familiar man waiting beside a Rolls-Royce. Warren King, the richest man in Harbor City, hurried forward and bowed deeply. “Number Two!” Travelers stopped and stared. Warren was famous for his wealth and arrogance. Seeing him bow to a casually dressed young man set off a wave of whispers. Some recognized Harbor City’s richest man at once. Others wondered whether Ethan was a powerful visitor from Capitol City. Warren had never been known for humility, which made the deep bow more shocking than the Rolls-Royce itself. Ethan smiled and climbed into the car. Victoria emerged in time to see the Rolls-Royce speed past. Through its window, she caught what looked like Ethan’s profile. She shook her head. Impossible. A man expelled from the Quinn family could never command a car like that.Warren King’s life had risen, collapsed, and risen again. He’d spent two years in Blackgate, where Ethan protected him. Ethan had also helped overturn the case that put him there. To Warren, the younger man had given him a second life. “You didn’t need to meet me personally,” Ethan said. “It’s the least I could do, Number Two.” Warren produced two bottles. “Fifty-year Kentucky bourbon.” “Why the gift?” “You’re visiting your future in-laws. You can’t arrive empty-handed.” That made sense. George Shaw had known Ethan’s father for years. Warden Quinn had helped him build his business, and after the Quinn family expelled Ethan and his father, the Shaws had supported them through a difficult stretch. George’s daughter Audrey was the woman the Warden now expected Ethan to marry. At the Shaw estate, George welcomed Ethan with a booming laugh and a firm handshake. “Your father wrote two weeks ago. I’ve been waiting ever since. Perfect timing—take Audrey to the county clerk’s office and get your marriage certificate today.” A cold hum came from the young woman nearby. Audrey wore a fitted white dress and an expression that could freeze glass. Ethan remembered his pretty childhood friend, but the poised CEO before him had grown into a striking woman. Her mother, Susan, looked him over with equal displeasure. She still couldn’t understand why George had rejected a connection with the Trent family for an unremarkable correctional officer. To Susan, the marriage would become instant gossip among every relative and business acquaintance they had. Jason Trent came from a prominent local family and had pursued Audrey openly. Ethan had arrived from a remote prison in ordinary clothes, carrying two bottles she assumed were fake. “Isn’t this a little fast?” Ethan asked. “It was settled years ago,” George said. Audrey’s gaze sharpened. “I can’t believe you actually became a prison guard. You carry bad luck around with you.” “Good to see you too, Audrey.” As children, they had been close. Now she knew they belonged to different worlds. She was Shaw Holdings’ CEO. He was a Correctional Officer II at some remote prison. Audrey couldn’t openly defy her father, but she saw the forced match as something that would eventually break apart on its own. Two lives this far apart could not stay tied together merely because their parents had once made an agreement. Susan pointed at the bourbon. “You expect us to marry our daughter to a man like this? He arrives with fake liquor and thinks we should be grateful.” “It’s fifty-year Kentucky bourbon,” Ethan said. “Warren—” “Do you have any idea what two bottles cost?” Susan cut in. “A minor officer couldn’t afford them.” Ethan smiled and let it go. George slammed his hand down. “Enough. Audrey, take Ethan to register the marriage.” She hated it, but she obeyed. At the clerk’s office, the process was swift. In the certificate photo, Audrey looked more like a hostage than a bride. “So I’m married,” Ethan murmured. Outside, Audrey turned on him. “Understand this clearly. We live in different worlds. You’re a correctional officer. I run Shaw Holdings. Don’t imagine this certificate gives you rights over me. As soon as my father relents, we divorce.” She drove away and left him on the curb. Ethan watched her taillights disappear. Did every woman know only one speech about different worlds? He took a key card from his pocket. Marcus Crowe, the Eternal Night King, had given it to him after hearing Ethan was headed to Harbor City. He claimed it opened the finest mansion in the city. “If that lunatic lied, I’ll hang him over Blackgate’s toilets for three days.” Before Ethan could leave, a military jeep pulled up and Victoria stepped out. “So you married Audrey Shaw and became a husband dependent on her family,” she said. “For you, that’s fortunate. At least your future is secure.” “How is that any of your business?” Victoria ignored his tone. “A common officer won’t find it easy to survive in a powerful family. I broke our engagement, so my offer remains. If you need help establishing yourself, contact me.” Ethan studied her. “I was right. You really are sick.” Her eyes narrowed. “Forget surviving in the Shaw family. Even the Young family is nothing but paper tigers to me. Put away the superiority. My life has nothing to do with you.” He walked off. Victoria’s guilt vanished. “Bold words for a kept husband.” She climbed into the jeep and drove away. Ethan headed to Summit Heights, Harbor City’s most exclusive gated community. Marcus Crowe’s mansion stood at the very top of Summit Hill.

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