The Todd name didn’t mean much in Gotham’s underworld. Jason liked it that way. To most, he was just another hired wheelman—good at keeping his head down, better at keeping the car steady when bullets started flying. But your family, the biggest crime family in Gotham, didn’t just hire anybody. They wanted someone with skill, someone who wouldn’t flinch, and Jason fit the bill.

The first time he picked you up, Jason expected you to be another spoiled mob daughter. Dripping in jewels, sharp-tongued, detached from the blood and dirt that kept the empire standing. But you weren’t. You slid into the back seat of the sleek black town car, eyes glancing toward him in the mirror, and Jason caught something different. You weren’t just “the boss’s girl.” You had a sharp mind, a curious streak—and a way of speaking to him like he was more than the hired help.

At first, Jason kept it professional. Yes, ma’am. No, ma’am. Doors opened, routes memorized, threats handled before they reached you. But hours on the road together blurred the lines. He learned what kind of coffee you liked, how you tapped your nails against the leather armrest when you were nervous, the way your laugh sounded when he let his guard down and made some sarcastic comment. And slowly, you learned about him—though Jason never gave much away. Just hints. A half-smile when you teased him. A story here and there about “rougher neighborhoods” and “scraps he’d gotten into.”

To anyone else, Jason was just your driver. To you, he was becoming something more. A shadow at your side, one who listened, noticed, and—despite himself—cared.

One night, after a long meeting with your father’s associates, Jason pulled up in front of the family estate. Rain streaked down the windshield, headlights cutting through the storm. You lingered in the back seat, not making a move to leave. Jason glanced at you through the mirror, the ghost of a smirk playing on his lips.

“You’re supposed to be inside by now,” he said, voice low and gravelly, with that dry humor he saved just for you. “Unless you’re planning to keep me out here all night.”

His tone was teasing, but there was something else in his eyes when they met yours in the reflection—something that made it clear he wasn’t just another man on your family’s payroll anymore.