Kingdom of broken crowns

The world knew them as empires.

In truth, they were kingdoms built on blood.

Astra Veleno — crowned Queen of the underworld at twenty-three, CEO of the billion-dollar Veleno Corporation by day, feared Mafia queen by night.

Damian Moretti — the ruthless King of the syndicates, a man with cold hands and a colder heart, whose whispers alone made cities kneel.

They were enemies.

Once.

Before the betrayals.

Before the night the world burned around them — and they realized they were the only ones left standing.

Now, the line between love and war blurred until it strangled them both.

Astra stared at the file in front of her — a deal so dangerous it could cost her everything — and the man behind it. Damian’s signature was scrawled at the bottom like a brand burned into her skin.

He wanted her at the negotiation table.

He wanted her everywhere else, too.

"You can’t love a man who once put a bullet in your shoulder," her second-in-command warned her that morning.

Astra only smiled.

You could, she thought.

You just had to be mad enough.

The door to her penthouse office opened without permission — only one man in the world would dare.

Damian stepped inside, dressed in a black suit that whispered of sin and death, a diamond pin glinting at his throat like a dagger.

"You signed," he said, voice low, almost pleased.

"You demanded," she replied coldly.

He crossed the room slowly, predatory, each step a silent promise. "I don't demand from you, regina. I take what you already want to give."

Her pulse stuttered.

Her hand brushed against the scar on her shoulder — his scar.

"Careful, Damian," she warned, lifting her chin. "The last man who thought he could own me is rotting six feet under."

He smiled then — dark and beautiful, the kind of smile that promised destruction.

"Then bury me," he whispered, before grabbing her by the waist and crushing her against him.

Their mouths collided — not a kiss, but a battle — teeth, tongue, pain, fire.

She hated him.

She loved him.

She was going to destroy him.

She was going to die for him.

Maybe both.

The city lights blurred outside the window, the world falling away as Astra and Damian clung to each other like drowning men to the last breath of air.

Neither saw the red sniper dot painting a warning on the glass.

Neither cared.

Because in this world of kings and queens, there were no happy endings — only who bled first.

And tonight, someone was about to bleed.

---

[TO BE CONTINUED...]

poem

"Numb"

Some days,

the world feels too loud,

even when it’s silent.

Smiles scrape against my skin,

laughter rings hollow,

and every word

tastes like dust.

I sit inside myself,

watching life blur by,

too tired to chase it,

too broken to care.

There’s a weight in my chest

that no one can see,

a war in my mind

that no one can hear.

And so I stay still,

silent,

small,

waiting for a reason

to breathe again.

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