Saturday – 4:17 PM
Alerk's latest order was simple: sneak into the mansion of a CEO named Alex and eliminate him.
Vincent sat in his car, two streets away, the engine silent. His jaw was tight, his mind restless.
He hated this part — the waiting, the knowing. Every mission chipped away at him, and lately, the cracks were showing.
You've done this before, he told himself. Don't hesitate now.
He slipped on his mask, loaded his pistol, and set his face into cold determination. One more life to take. One more piece of himself to lose.
---
6:34 PM
The mission was done. Quick, brutal, and messy.
Now Vincent sat on a park bench by the lake, exhaustion creeping into his bones. His hands were still stained with blood as he wiped them with a wet tissue.
That's when he saw her.
A girl — petite, long wavy light-brown hair, a simple floral dress that brushed the water's edge as she stood ankle-deep in the lake. She wasn't paying attention to anything but the way the water felt against her skin, sunlight catching in her hair.
She moved with a kind of freedom Vincent hadn't felt in years. For the first time in a long time, he didn't feel numb. He felt… alive.
Then she stumbled on a submerged rock and went down hard.
Her dress and hair darkened with water and clung to her shape, streaked with sand. She tried to get up, struggling in the shallow water.
Vincent froze, caught between surprise and — annoyingly — concern. Why the hell should I care?
Still, he was on his feet before he could answer that question. In two strides, he was at her side, lifting her as if she weighed nothing. Water soaked through his clothes, but he didn't care.
He looked down at her through the strands of hair plastered to her face, voice dry and sharp.
"Were you trying to explore SpongeBob's world or something? Looking for the Krabby Patty secret recipe?"
She looked up shyly through her wet hair. "N-no… I just… stumbled on a rock."
"Yeah… stumbled. Sure."
He carried her back to his bench and set her down. Without thinking, he brushed her wet hair from her face — and stilled.
For a man who'd seen more beauty in violence than in people, this was different. She was breathtaking. Light-brown eyes that caught the fading sun, a perfect nose, lips so soft-looking they could be dangerous.
She looked at him with wide-eyed innocence, completely unaware of the effect she was having on him.