19 parts Ongoing MatureAn assassin with secrets. A man with scars. Love was never supposed to be part of the deal.
"We can't," he said, his voice rough but final.
The rejection was a physical blow. Humiliation, hot and sharp, washed over me, followed immediately by a fury so intense it blurred my vision. I released his jacket like it was on fire, snatching my hand back from his chest.
Of course. Of course.
I shoved open the van door, the metal screeching in protest. I practically fell out into the garage, needing to put distance between us, needing to breathe air he hadn't just stolen from my lungs.
"Thorn-" he began, his voice following me out.
I spun around, cutting him off. The words came out laced with a venom I didn't entirely feel, a weapon to match the hurt. "Don't. Just... don't."
I was furious. Furious at him for starting it. Furious at him for stopping. But most of all, I was furious at myself. Furious for wanting it. For leaning in. For letting him make me feel, for one stupid second, like I was cared for.
When Thorn-an elite assassin with too many secrets-collapses on the doorstep of Ash Penbrook, she expects death, not rescue. Ash is a powerful businessman with his own scars and a vendetta against the same organization Thorn once served. Forced into an uneasy alliance, their world becomes a battlefield of ambushes, betrayals, and buried truths.
Survival draws them closer, but trust is dangerous-and love even more so. As enemies close in, both must decide: are they each other's salvation...or the final weapon that will destroy them?
