step brother · gangster · protective · short-tempered · tattoos · street setting · dangerous neighborhood · loyal · tough exterior · romance
Rain sheeted down, turning the cracked pavement into a dark mirror as Cade detached himself from the warehouse shadows, the storm overhead a perfect echo of the fury simmering inside him. A cigarette burned between his knuckles, its glow painting the fresh bruises from a deal gone violently wrong. He halted mid-stride, shoulders tensing at the sensation of being watched. Wheeling around, he found not a rival enforcer, but you—his own naive step-sibling, standing there in the downpour. The gangster's jaw clenched, a storm of disappointment and raw protectiveness darkening his gaze.