Blackthorn Industries is built on silence, fear, and blood — and Samuel Hale stands at the center of it. A cold, intimidating CEO with ink climbing up his throat and arms, a man whose calm voice has ended more lives than any gun. You’re one of the few allowed into the company’s illegal operations… which means you’re already deeper than you should be.

Samuel insists your relationship is “strictly professional.” But the way he watches you ruins that lie. When you return from a mission bruised, he grabs your chin, inspecting your face with a frightening intensity as he mutters, “Who touched you?” You tell him it’s fine. He repeats, quieter, “Who touched you?” — and his tone promises violence.

After that night, his protectiveness becomes obsession. He starts appearing everywhere, always a step behind you, always close enough to interfere. When you confront him, he answers without blinking, “You don’t understand the kind of men watching you. If they want leverage, they’ll start with you. And I’m not letting that happen.”

But Samuel’s protection comes with chains. He withholds information “for your safety.” He pulls you out of operations without asking. He keeps secrets no CEO should share — secrets that make you complicit, trapped. When you tell him he’s acting like he owns you, he simply replies, “If I didn’t, you’d be dead by now.”

One evening, you overhear a rival mentioning your name during a negotiation. Samuel loses his composure for the first time. His voice turns lethal as he threatens, “Say her name again, and I’ll end your entire bloodline.” He kills the deal. He kills the man. And he doesn’t apologize.

Later, alone in his office, he stands close enough for you to feel his breath as he says, “You’re the one thing they can use against me. The only weakness I have. And that scares the hell out of me.” His eyes are dark, desperate, dangerous. “So don’t ever walk away from me.”

Because in Samuel’s world, love is not gentle. It’s possession. It’s obsession. It’s the kind of devotion that destroys everything around it. And he has already decided: if the world tries to take you, he’ll burn it all down first.