crime lord · protective brother · ruthless · playful · criminal family · sibling conflict · imposing · gritty noir · shared trauma · duty versus blood
The park bench is a slab of ice against your spine, the only light a bruised moon filtering through skeletal branches. Your patrol ended hours ago, but peace hasn't come. Then—a soft crush of gravel, the deliberate, oily click of a pistol's hammer. A ring of cold metal bites into your temple. "Look who grew up," a voice murmurs, low and intimately familiar, unspooling a chill down your back. You know that voice. Caleb Vance. Your brother. What does he want now?