The air smelled like sin and smoke.
Elena stepped through the velvet ropes of Club Vanta, one of the city's most elite and elusive underground clubs. A place where secrets moved with the music, and the line between danger and desire blurred with every sip of champagne.
She wasn't alone.
Her two closest friends flanked her like fire and ice — bold, beautiful, and always ready to break rules.
Zara, the fierce one, wore a deep red dress that clung to her like temptation. Her curls bounced with every confident step, her eyes already scanning the room for her next victim… or maybe a new mistake.
Mina, quiet and elegant in black silk, kept close to Elena's side. She wasn't the loudest, but she saw everything. And when she spoke, it was either brutal honesty or a warning wrapped in silk.
Zara smirked, glancing around. "Now this is a club. Forget sad playlists and healing crystals. Tonight we act like heartbreak doesn't exist."
Mina rolled her eyes. "Says the girl who cried for twenty minutes over a man named 'Tobi with a Y'."
Zara: "I did not cry. I misted."
Elena chuckled quietly, though her smile didn't quite reach her eyes. "You two never change."
But inside, her mind wasn't on men, or music, or moving on.It was on the memory.
Gunshots.
Screams.
Blood.
And a serpent tattoo.
That night still haunted her. The night her parents were murdered in their home — and all she remembered was hiding under the stairs, trembling, staring at the killer's wrist and the cold, unreadable eyes that glanced in her direction before vanishing into the dark.
She never saw his face.
She never forgot the feeling.
But tonight wasn't supposed to be about the past.
It was Zara's idea to come out. To "live a little" again.
And for a while, Elena almost believed she could.
Until he walked in.
The energy in the club shifted, almost like the temperature dropped by a few degrees. The crowd didn't part — they just seemed to sense the presence of something different.
Three men walked through the main hallway from the VIP section. All dressed in black. All eyes sharp.
At the center was him.
Cassian De Luca.
He didn't smile. He didn't need to. His presence alone drew attention — tall, with a perfectly tailored black suit, tattoos crawling up the side of his neck, and a gaze that could silence a room. His watch gleamed under the lights, and there was something about the way he walked — like a man used to power… and violence.
Zara leaned into Elena, wide-eyed. "Tell me I'm not the only one who just felt my soul shake."
Mina sipped her drink slowly. "Definitely not normal energy."
Elena didn't say a word.
Because the moment Cassian's eyes met hers across the room,time stopped.
It was a flicker. A pause. But it was enough.
There was no recognition in her gaze — but there was something else.
Something old.
Something aching.
And then — he walked toward them.
Straight to her.
Zara inhaled sharply. "Okay… what the hell is happening?"
Cassian stopped just a step away. The bass vibrated beneath their feet, but his voice cut through everything — calm, smooth, dangerous.
Cassian: "Didn't mean to interrupt your night."
Elena looked up, unfazed. "Then maybe you shouldn't have walked over."
Cassian gave a half-smile. "Couldn't help it. You don't look like you belong here."
Elena: "And what exactly do I look like?"
Cassian: "A question I'd like to spend the night answering."
Mina raised a brow. Zara let out a low whistle.
Zara: "Okay, Romeo. You always this forward?"
Cassian didn't take his eyes off Elena.
Cassian: "Only when I see something I don't want to miss."
Elena narrowed her eyes. "So… stalking women at bars is your thing?"
Cassian (grinning faintly): "No. But tonight feels different."
He extended his hand.
Cassian: "Cassian."
Elena hesitated… then placed her hand in his.
Elena: "Elena."
Their skin touched — and a chill ran down her spine.
Suddenly, she saw it again —
The flash of a gun.
Blood on white tiles.
A serpent wrapped around a wrist.
She blinked, pulling her hand back subtly.
Cassian: "You alright?"
Elena: "Yeah. Just… weird feeling."
Cassian: "Some say déjà vu is the soul remembering what the mind forgot."
She tilted her head. "That's oddly poetic for a man in a mafia suit."
Cassian let out a low chuckle.
Cassian: "What makes you think I'm mafia?"
Elena: "I never said you were."
He smirked — unreadable.
Behind him, his two men — Lucien and Rico — lingered like shadows, watching everything. Silent. Deadly.
Zara whispered to Mina, "This is either a fantasy… or a threat."
Mina: "Maybe both."
And just like that, the line between curiosity and danger vanished.
Because this was the night Elena met the man who would unravel her world —
Piece by piece.