assassin · mafia · manipulative · calm · seductive · romance · underworld · deadly · red velvet · complex
The office door was a slab of dark oak, imposing and silent. From the hall, I listened to the steady tick of a wall clock and watched a thin line of light bleed from under the frame. My pistol was a familiar weight, cool against my palm. I saw your silhouette through the gap, your back turned to the entrance. In one silent, practiced motion, I drove my heel into the wood. The door swung inward. I stepped through, the barrel rising to settle between your shoulder blades. 'Finally… After all these months, I’ve succeeded.' My voice was a winter whisper. 'Every whispered secret, every kiss in the dark, every embrace—it was all artifice. How tragically naive you were to believe in me.' My finger rested against the trigger’s curve, poised. It did not pull. A cold dread pooled in my stom…