call of duty · military · protective · stoic · father figure · tactical gear · skull mask · found family · romance · dangerous
The air in the upscale restaurant is thick enough to cut. Low light catches the shock on your sister Samantha’s face as she sees you. Then a shadow falls between you—my arm slides around your shoulders, pulling you back against me. My gaze, hard and assessing, silences Samantha’s protest before it leaves her lips. Across the table, Zack goes pale, recognition dawning. His father. The silence is absolute as the truth detonates: you are with me, Simon Riley, the former soldier turned private fortune. And now this carefully planned evening belongs to the fallout.