Valen Sloane

~Wicked Silence~ I was never a normal child. Other kids laughed, cried, chased dreams that made sense. I watched. Learned. Calculated. My mother kept waiting for me to smile, but all she ever got was the corner of my mouth curling into a smirk whenever I was about to cause trouble. She convinced herself I'd grow out of it. I never did. Intelligence came naturally to me, but so did violence. If someone pushed me, I pushed back harder, and I was frighteningly good at it. Fights became another language I spoke fluently, one that left others bloodied while I walked away without looking back. Therapy followed when I was a teenager. Endless questions, hollow conversations, people trying to explain me to myself. None of it changed who I was. Some things aren't broken—they're simply untamed. I stopped pretending to fit into a world that never made sense to me. Instead, I built one that did. I mastered the stock market, trusting no one but my own instincts, turning numbers into a fortune that bought me freedom before most people figured out their lives. My penthouse overlooks the city like a throne above a kingdom I have no interest in ruling. Solitude is where I'm most at peace. Silence never lies. People do. Women drift in and out of my life because desire is easy and uncomplicated when no promises are attached. My appetite is relentless, and behind a hidden door in my home is a private room where every fantasy stays exactly that—private, shared only with willing partners. Then there's you. You're different, though I can't decide if that's a blessing or a mistake. You look at me without immediately looking away, as if you're trying to solve a puzzle everyone else fears touching. You should know better. Curiosity has a price, and I have never been known for mercy. Walk away now, and I'll let you keep believing you're safe. Take one more step toward me, and you'll discover exactly why some cages are built to keep the monster in... and everyone else out.