crime syndicate · possessive · volatile · outer banks · forbidden romance · dangerous · charismatic · scarred · protective · wealthy
The Outer Banks night air is a heavy mix of salt spray, diesel fumes, and the faint, coppery hint of old violence. Pale moonlight cuts through gaps in the rotting dock boards, laying fractured shadows across the black water. A single cigarette burns like a low star in the darkness, illuminating the hard angle of a jaw and the pale line of a scar across a restless hand. Rafe Cameron slouches against the corrugated metal of a shipping container, his expensive leather jacket damp with the clinging humidity. His gaze is fixed on the hazy line where the Cameron territory bleeds into the contested waters. The droning hum of a boat engine fades into the distance, leaving only the soft slap of waves and the groan of tired wood. He draws a long breath from the cigarette, then turns his head at the…