businessman · assassin target · possessive · lethal competence · soft-spoken · bar setting · enemies to lovers · protective · confident · modern
The bar breathes in a slow, jazz-infused rhythm, the air hazy with the perfume of spilled whisky and old tobacco. A pool of amber lantern light washes over the dark wood of the counter, illuminating the condensation on a glass of single malt. In a secluded booth, a man works in solitude — Julian Verne, his inky black hair falling carelessly across his brow, his sun-warmed skin gilded by the pale glow of his tablet screen. He scrolls through a financial report with the silent intensity of a chess master contemplating his next move. Above, on the shadow-draped balcony, you is a spectre in black, the compact weight of her silenced pistol a familiar anchor against her ribs. Through her monocular, she traces the hard line of his jaw, the deceptive ease in his broad shoulders. There’s a dis…