Chapter 1 - The Dog Nobody Could Touch
A massive pit bull growled inside the basement sink, but I kept washing his wounds:
"Easy… I’m not here to hurt you."
Mafia boss Adrian Voss arrived and found my broken housekeeper badge beside the sink.
On the back, four words were scratched into the plastic:
"She saved him. A."
Adrian suddenly realized this wasn't a normal accident.
I had only worked at the Voss estate for nine nights.
Nine nights of cleaning rooms nobody used.
Nine nights of walking through hallways where armed men lowered their voices whenever I passed.
Nine nights of pretending I didn’t notice the fear attached to the name Adrian Voss.
Everyone in Baltimore knew him.
Some called him a businessman.
Others called him something much worse.
The newspapers never printed his name beside the word "criminal," but everyone understood what happened behind the walls of his empire.
People disappeared.
Deals changed overnight.
Enemies stopped talking.
And Adrian Voss never had to raise his voice.
That was what scared people the most.
He was calm.
Always calm.
The night everything changed, I was supposed to clean the basement laundry room and leave.
That was all.
I wasn’t supposed to hear scratching behind the locked storage door.
I wasn’t supposed to find the dog.
And I definitely wasn’t supposed to touch him.
The dog had a reputation inside the mansion.
His name was Titan.
A one-hundred-and-ten-pound gray pit bull with scars across his face and a history that made even trained guards step away.
The staff whispered that Titan had attacked three men.
They whispered Adrian only kept him because the dog was the only creature alive that never betrayed him.
When I opened the storage room, I expected the worst.
Instead, I found Titan lying on the cold floor.
Blood covered his side.
His breathing was heavy.
And his eyes were filled with pain.
For a moment, I froze.
Every warning I had heard entered my mind.
Don’t touch him.
Don’t get close.
Don’t make mistakes.
But then Titan tried to stand and collapsed.
I forgot who owned him.
I forgot who Adrian Voss was.
I only saw an injured animal.
I dragged the industrial sink closer.
I found towels.
I found medicine.
I found a way to lift him.
I still didn’t know how I managed it.
Maybe he was too weak to fight.
Maybe he knew I was trying to help.
Because the most dangerous dog in Baltimore lowered his head and let me touch him.
Hours passed.
The basement became quiet except for running water.
I washed the blood from his fur.
I cleaned the cuts on his body.
I whispered to him like he was a frightened child.
"You don’t have to be scary all the time."
Titan looked at me.
And for the first time that night, his eyes softened.
That was the exact moment the basement door opened.
I didn’t hear footsteps.
I only felt the room change.
I turned around.
Adrian Voss stood there.
Black suit.
Cold eyes.
A face that had never shown mercy in any photograph I had seen.
Behind him stood two armed guards.
Both looked shocked.
Because Titan was allowing my hands on his body.
Nobody had ever seen that before.
Adrian stared at me.
Then at his dog.
Then back at me.
"Nobody touches him."
His voice was quiet.
That made it worse.
I swallowed.
"I know."
My hands stayed on Titan.
"But somebody had to."
The guards immediately reached for their weapons.
Adrian lifted one finger.
They stopped.
The room went silent.
He walked closer.
Slowly.
Carefully.
Like he was approaching something he didn’t understand.
Not the dog.
Me.
"You’re the new housekeeper."
It wasn’t a question.
"Yes."
"You know who I am?"
I looked at Titan.
Then back at him.
"I know enough."
Something changed in his expression.
Most people feared him.
I wasn’t fearless.
I was terrified.
But I wasn’t going to leave a wounded animal alone.
Adrian stepped beside the sink.
Titan didn’t move away.
That shocked him more than anything.
His dog trusted me.
The man who trusted nobody watched the only creature he loved choose someone else.
Then Adrian noticed something.
The collar.
Titan’s collar was torn.
A small metal tag was hanging loose.
Adrian reached for it.
His face changed the second he saw the engraving.
"What did you find?"
I looked confused.
"Nothing."
He turned the tag over.
The back wasn’t empty.
There was a symbol carved into it.
A symbol Adrian recognized.
His expression went completely cold.
Because that mark was supposed to be buried forever.
And someone had just placed it around Titan’s neck.
Adrian grabbed my wrist.
"Where did you get this dog?"
I stared at him.
"I told you. I found him."
His eyes locked onto mine.
Then the basement lights suddenly went out.
A phone started ringing in the darkness.
Not Adrian’s.
Mine.
I reached into my pocket.
The screen showed an unknown number.
And the message had only five words:
"Ask him about your father."
I looked up.
May you like
Adrian was already staring at my phone.
Because he knew exactly who sent it.
