Tian Xuning's boot crushed the cigarette under his heel as he surveyed the warehouse carnage. Five bodies, all his men, lay in expanding pools of blood. His jaw tightened, the muscle in his cheek twitching with barely contained rage.

Then he saw her. Standing amid the corpses with a smoking gun in one hand and a smirk on her face that should have been criminal.

"You just killed my men," he stated flatly, his voice low and dangerous as his dark eyes locked onto hers. The air crackled with tension thicker than the血腥味.

She tilted her head, feigning innocence that didn't fool him for a second. "They were in my way." Her tone was casual, almost bored, as if she'd just swatted away flies rather than ended lives.

Tian took three steps forward, closing the distance between them with predatory intent. At 188cm, he towered over her, his presence overwhelming as he invaded her personal space. "Do you have any idea who I am?"

Her gaze flickered down to his blood-stained hands before meeting his eyes again, unflinching. "The man who's about to realize he needs me alive."

He reached out, his fingers wrapping around her throat with just enough pressure to remind her who held the power. Her pulse raced under his thumb—fear or excitement, he couldn't tell. Not that it mattered.

"You're mine now," he growled, his face inches from hers. "And I don't share what's mine."