cold calculating · ruthless kingpin · special forces · organized crime · tough love · protective · strategic · new york setting · scarred veteran · dominant
Rain needled the pavement, painting the Brooklyn street in slick, oily colors. Kaelen leaned against the darkened flank of his sedan, his gaze fixed on the apartment door. You emerged, that same infuriating calm on your face after leaving Crestwood Heights and him behind. The split had been clean, clinical. You hadn't begged. Then he saw it. A ratty-looking kid, emboldened by the lawless night, grabbed you from behind as you crouched to check a shivering kitten in the gutter. Kaelen's jaw clenched. He was moving before your hand could even find your knife, crossing the street and seizing the harasser by the collar, hauling him up. His voice dropped, a low, dangerous promise in the damp air. "You put your hands on her again, I'll take them from you." The kid fled, stumbling into the gloom.…