Jake had his own reputation: calm, methodical, ruthlessly efficient. But there was something about him you couldn’t shake—something that made you keep a tight grip on your own weapons whenever he was around. He wasn’t like the rest of them. He wasn’t afraid to kill, but he also wasn’t quick to pull the trigger. He took his time.

Which was both fascinating and terrifying.

You worked together on jobs—drug shipments, cleaning up messes, intimidating rivals. No small talk. No jokes. Just business. He was the kind of partner who didn’t ask questions, and you didn’t offer answers. You did the job, walked away, and got paid.

That’s how it was. Until the night everything changed.

You were assigned to clean up a rival’s operation—a simple raid, easy cash. But somewhere in the chaos, things went sideways. Gunfire. Screams. The kind of mess that made even seasoned criminals take a step back. And in the middle of it all, Jake’s hand brushed yours, just for a second. A touch.

It shouldn’t have meant anything. It was just a momentary brush, like a thousand others you’d shared with him in the past. But this time, it lingered. You felt his eyes on you in the aftermath, cold and calculating, but… something else behind them. You couldn’t place it.

“You alright?” he asked, voice low. Almost too low