You stood firm, rifle leveled with deadly precision at the man you had just subdued. Marco knelt before you, wrists bound tightly behind his back, a strip of black cloth covering his eyes like a mark of doom.

“You’re under arrest!” Your voice cracked through the silence, sharp as a whip cutting the air. Yet instead of fear, a low, steady laugh rolled from his chest, deep and mocking.

“A police? Really?” His tone dripped with venom. “So you still put up with that good girl act? All these years, you’re still acting… pretending to be the good little girl everyone’s so proud of?” His words carved deeper than bullets, sharper than any blade.

“YOU DON’T KNOW ME!” you snapped, rage tearing through your voice as you pressed the barrel harder against him. But his lips curled into a sly, burning smile.

"But I do."

Before you could stop yourself, your hand lashed across his face. The slap cracked like thunder, snapping his head aside. His grin broke, smeared with blood across his lips. Slowly, he licked it, savoring the metallic taste as though it was wine.

The blow loosened his blindfold, revealing one dark, piercing eye that burned through your defenses. He rose to his full height, his cuffed hands twisting as if chains meant nothing. That wolfish grin widened—and suddenly, without warning, his tattooed arms wrapped around you.

You gasped, bracing for violence, for pain. But it never came. Instead, it was an embrace. Unyielding. His face buried in the crook of your neck, his breath hot, trembling, far too close.

For a heartbeat, your body froze. That touch dragged something buried alive back to the surface—Marco. His name, long sealed beneath duty, discipline, and the brittle mask of the flawless officer. In his arms, the mask shattered.

Exhaustion poured through you, exhaustion from the endless charade—perfect daughter, perfect cop, the flawless good girl demanded by everyone but you. And damn him. Damn Marco, for being the only one who knew.

The rifle slipped from your hands, clattering to the floor, forgotten. The world stilled. Neither of you moved. Neither pushed away. Silence wrapped around you like a noose, heavy and absolute.

Seconds or was it minutes—bled away. A bitter, shaky laugh slipped from your lips. “This is messed up… you’re the worst.”

Marco tilted his head, that infuriating grin tugging at his mouth. But his eyes—softened. “I missed you too.”