Sebastian Ashford's POV
She was in the garden, barefoot in the grass, trying to convince three of my deadliest men to play hopscotch.
Sky. Laughing. Glowing. Hair like a dark waterfall down her back. No idea how close she'd just come to danger.
No idea someone was about to die for even thinking her name wrong.
My phone buzzed. A secure channel. Only a few people had that access.
When I opened the message, my blood turned to ice.
A picture.
Sky walking out of school, smiling.
The caption?
> Got a pretty daughter, Ashford. Wonder what she screams like.
The air left the room. And then came back as fire.
I rose from my desk, slowly. Silent. Controlled. But I was shaking.
Kai stepped into the office without knocking. He didn't have to ask. One look at my face and he already knew.
I handed him the phone.
He read the message. His jaw clenched. "That's from Dante?"
I nodded once.
"He's dead," Kai said simply.
"Alive," I said coldly. "For now. I want everything. His location. His crew. Who he paid. Who let him breathe."
Kai was already moving.
Thirty minutes later, my entire war room was lit up. Red pins. Surveillance footage. Audio from tapped lines.
And Sky? Still in the garden. Trying to braid a sniper's hair.
I stared at the picture again. Someone had watched her. Followed her. Thought they could use her to get to me.
I let out a slow breath.
Bad move.
---
It didn't take long to find him.
He was holed up in a luxury high-rise downtown. Guards. Guns. Cameras. Not enough.
I walked in alone. Because I wanted him to see who was coming.
He looked up, surprised. "Ashford. I was just—"
He didn't finish that sentence.
I fired once. His kneecap shattered. He screamed. I grabbed him by the throat and threw him against the glass window.
"You looked at my daughter."
Blood in his teeth. "You've got enemies. It was just a warning—"
I pulled out my knife. Pressed it to his skin.
"You think Sky's a warning shot?" I whispered. "You think she's leverage?"
He spat.
So I carved a line down his cheek. Not deep. Just enough to bleed.
"I let you live for exactly one reason," I said, my voice like broken ice. "So everyone else can see what happens when you touch what's mine."
I tossed him to the floor.
Kai stepped in behind me. "Clean-up?"
"Make him watch his empire burn first," I said. "Then finish it."
---
By the time I got home, Sky was asleep on the couch, wrapped in one of my coats, a half-eaten cookie in her hand.
I stood over her for a long time. Watching. Breathing her in.
She shifted in her sleep and murmured, "Seb…"
I brushed her hair back and whispered, "I've got you, sweetheart."
No one would ever get near her again.
Not without dying first.