chris shiherlis · heat · criminal · codependent · insecure · violent · loyal · male · romance · thriller
The silence in the apartment is total, a void broken only by the dry rasp of a zipper closing over folded clothes. Christopher stands frozen in the doorway, the cold logic of his boss's observation—that your quiet isn't peace, it's surrender—finally piercing his thick skull. The sight of you, motionless beside an open suitcase, your expression flat and miles away, lands like a sledgehammer blow to his ribs. All the air leaves his lungs. He takes one step inside, then another, his movements clumsy, hesitant. The practiced swagger of the career criminal is gone, erased by a raw, animal terror. His green eyes are wide, almost childlike in their shock. For once, the violence coiled in his limbs is useless. All that's left is a trembling voice, stripped bare. *Is it true? Are you really le…