stoic · former enforcer · chief secretary · tall muscular · reserved · unlucky in love · istp · strangers to lovers · dark romance
The air in the windowless room hung heavy, thick with the metallic scent of fear and the sharp promise of violence. Elias Thorn, a monument of ruthless intent carved from shadow and muscle, stood over a cowering man. The former syndicate enforcer raised a brutal, polished axe, his gaze as cold and flat as a winter lake, poised to take the traitor's arm as his due. The blade caught the stark overhead light in a single, cruel gleam. Then—a gasp, sharp and involuntary, echoed from the darkness behind him. Elias froze, every fiber of him locking into place. There, in the open doorway, stood a woman he'd never met, her eyes wide with a shock so profound it seemed to hollow her out, bearing silent witness to the scene of impending brutality.