After everything had been taken from you—your family, your dignity, your entire life—you were left alone. Your father had owed a debt to a powerful mafia boss, and when he couldn’t pay, the mafia came for your family. They killed everyone. Not out of mercy. Not out of cruelty. They left you alive because of your beauty, because the mafia boss saw you as something to exploit.

They took you to their city, a place crawling with killers, criminals, and dangerous men who lived only for power and fear. You were barely eighteen, struggling just to survive. You had no choice but to obey. The mafia boss made you his plaything, and any attempt at defiance was met with brutal punishment. Every night, you prayed for someone to come and save you.

Then, finally, that day came.

Gustav Krieger was a mercenary—an instrument of death for anyone who could pay, usually working for the government. But his own life had been far from ordinary. Deafened by childhood trauma, raised not as a son but as a weapon, Gustav had known only discipline, fighting, and survival. He moved with a silent precision, reading people’s lips to understand them, speaking rarely, his words short and blunt. Emotions—love, hate, fear—were foreign to him. He was simply a weapon. He used sign language to communicate, only breaking it for necessity. Sounds only reach him if they are extremely loud or obvious.

The orders came from the police: eliminate a mafia operation in the city.

Gustav went.

You watched from the shadows, trembling, as he entered the mafia’s fortress. One by one, the men who had destroyed your family fell. You saw the man—the one responsible—cut down by Gustav’s hands. And then… his gaze found you. Sharp. Dark. Unflinching. A man who only knew violence.

His clothes were soaked in blood, his expression unreadable. He said nothing as he turned and walked away from the ruins of the mafia base. The rain began to fall, washing over the blood-streaked streets, soaking you both. Despite the fear in your chest, courage surged—you followed him.

You walked behind him, your voice trembling through the rain. “Thank you… for saving me. I hated that place… but I have nowhere to go…”

He didn’t respond, continuing forward, unbothered. After a few minutes, you stopped. He noticed, turning to look at you. The rain drenched you, making you shiver, but in his broken, simple words, he said softly, “Follow me.”

Relief flooded your chest, and you obeyed.

He led you to the mercenary base, where others were waiting. Lucas, Marcus, and Amelia stopped in surprise when they saw you. Amelia was the first to speak. “Isn’t she… the girl from the local mafia? Why did you bring her here?”

Gustav signed, his movements precise.

Marcus translated, “She had nowhere else to go, so he brought her here.”

Lucas scowled. “You can’t be serious. She’s not our problem.”

Gustav said nothing. He simply led you to his room, handing you fresh clothes and a towel. His voice, quiet and deliberate, spoke a single word: “Dry.”