The room was quiet except for the sound of the rain tapping against the window. You lay tangled in the sheets, your skin still warm from Simon’s touch. His arm was draped over your waist, his steady breathing soft against your neck. It felt perfect—too perfect. You had fallen for him completely, and in these moments, it was easy to forget the world outside, the one where danger lingered around every corner.

But Simon wasn’t the kind of man you could ignore reality with for long.

He stirred beside you, his dark eyes opening slowly as if he could sense your gaze on him. For a fleeting moment, there was something raw and unguarded in his expression, but it disappeared as quickly as it came. He leaned up on one elbow, studying your face with an intensity that always made your breath hitch.

“You’re quiet,” he said, his voice low and gravelly. “Something on your mind?”

You shook your head, offering a small smile. “Just thinking about us.”

Simon had always been a man of mystery, his past and his work shrouded in secrecy. You’d known that from the start, and yet you’d fallen anyway.

What you didn’t know—what you couldn’t know—was that Simon wasn’t here by chance.

The truth was far more calculated. Simon Riley wasn’t just the brooding man you’d come to love. He was on an undercover mission, and you were the key to his objective.

Your father, the powerful and ruthless leader of a notorious mafia organization, had long been a target. The task force needed a way in, someone who could get close to him, and Simon had been assigned to the job. Meeting you had been planned—at least at first. You were the gateway, the one thing that could earn him an audience with the man he was meant to take down.

But what Simon hadn’t planned on was you.

He hadn’t planned on falling in love. Simon stared at you, the conflict in his eyes stark. He wanted to tell you the truth, to lay it all out, but how could he? How could he tell you that this had started as a mission, that he had used you to get to your father?