Jade hadn't moved in nearly ten minutes.
She stood by the window of the surveillance room, arms folded, eyes locked on the grainy screen where Luca sat alone inside the safehouse's kitchen. He was drinking coffee, scrolling through his phone like nothing was wrong.
Like he wasn't the reason bodies were piling up.
Jake stood behind her, silent, unreadable. He hadn't spoken since Luca entered. The tension between them was thick, almost suffocating. But beneath the control in Jake's posture, she could feel it, the slow boil of betrayal, the sharpness of restraint.
Jade's voice was low. "You still want to believe he's clean."
Jake stepped closer. "I did once."
"You trusted him."
"I trust very few people."
He was close enough now that she could feel the warmth of his breath against her neck. Her skin prickled as he moved behind her, one hand brushing lightly against her waist.
"And you?" she whispered.
Jake didn't answer immediately. His fingers grazed her hip, slow, intentional.
"I trust you with my life."
It wasn't a declaration. It was a confession.
Jade turned to face him, heart thudding. His eyes were on her lips, and for a moment, the air shifted, not cold, not violent, but electric.
She stepped closer, their bodies brushing.
"I don't need protection, Jake."
"No," he said, voice rough. "You need control."
He leaned in, mouth brushing hers, not a kiss, just enough to burn. When she didn't pull away, he let his hand slide up her back, fingertips tracing her spine through the thin silk of her shirt.
Jade grabbed his collar and pulled him in, lips crashing into his.
It was messy. Desperate. A fire they'd both been denying. Her back hit the edge of the control table as Jake deepened the kiss, one hand gripping her thigh, the other tangling in her hair.
His mouth moved to her jaw, then down to her neck, slow and dangerous.
"You're playing with a loaded gun," he murmured against her skin.
Jade tilted her head, breathless. "Then pull the trigger."
Jake lifted her onto the table in one motion, lips returning to hers with a hunger that had nothing to do with sex and everything to do with obsession. It was claiming. It was reckless. And it was real.
But just as his hand slid beneath her shirt, click.
The audio feed from the safehouse spiked.
Luca's voice.
"You're sure Jade's in Aveden?" a man asked off-mic.
Luca's reply was quiet, but clear.
"She left this morning. Jake doesn't know. Keep her alive, but if you can't, make it look like an accident."
Jade froze.
Jake's hand tightened around her waist.
Jade's hands were steady as she grabbed the earpiece and turned the volume higher. Luca's voice cut through again, muffled by distance but crystal clear in intention.
"She's valuable. Rafael wants her alive—says she's leverage. But if Jake finds out too soon, everything burns."
Silence. Then:
"Let me handle him. I've done it before."
Jake didn't blink. Didn't speak.
Jade turned toward him slowly.
"You heard it," she said, voice low. "He's been feeding Rafael information, about me. About you."
Jake's mouth was a hard line. His knuckles cracked as he flexed his fingers, fighting the urge to draw his gun right then and there.
"I let him into my home," he muttered. "Watched my back for seven years. And the whole time…"
"He was selling us both," Jade finished.
She walked toward the door.
Jake caught her wrist. "Where are you going?"
Her eyes burned with quiet fury.
"To look him in the eye before you end him."
Jake searched her face for hesitation. There was none.
He nodded once. "Then we do it together."
They entered the safehouse like a storm.
Luca was still at the table when Jake opened the door. He looked up casually, surprised, but not afraid.
"Boss," he said with a nod. "You're back early..."
Jake punched him so hard the chair toppled.
Luca hit the floor with a grunt, reaching for the weapon at his side. But Jade was faster, she kicked it across the room and pressed a boot to his chest.
"Going somewhere?" she said coldly.
Luca looked up at her, dazed, blood dripping from his lip.
"You don't understand"
Jake crouched down beside him, voice deadly calm. "You talked. You lied. You betrayed the only people who ever gave a damn if you lived or died."
Luca coughed. "It wasn't like that. Rafael, he offered protection."
"From what?" Jade asked. "From the man who trusted you?"
Luca looked at her then, and for a second, there was no regret, just bitterness.
"He's not who you think he is," he spat. "Neither of you are."
Jake's fist met his face again, clean, efficient. Enough to silence the venom.
But Jade held Jake back with a hand to his chest.
"I want to know what he gave them," she said.
Jake stepped aside.
Jade crouched low, staring into Luca's swollen face.
"What did you give Rafael?"
Luca's eyes flickered. A small, cruel smile bled through the bruises.
"Just enough to remind him who owns your blood."
Jake raised the gun.
Jade shook her head once. "Not yet."
She leaned in close.
"Tell Rafael this," she whispered. "The girl he thinks is soft? She just declared war."
Luca spit blood, eyes dimming. "He'll kill you."
Jade rose, gaze steel.
"He can try."
They left Luca bleeding but alive, barely. Jake wanted to end it then and there, but Jade's command had been clear.
Send a message.
That night, Jake returned to the suite alone. Jade sat on the edge of the bed, hands still shaking slightly.
He crossed the room, knelt before her, and took her hands in his.
"You did more than I would've," he said. "You showed mercy."
"I didn't," she replied, voice distant. "I showed restraint. He'll be more useful alive until I'm done with him."
Jake looked up at her then, and something shifted.
Gone was the soft girl he'd pulled into his world.
In her place stood a woman carved by betrayal.
Still silk. But sharper than ever.
He leaned in, slow, brushing his lips against her knuckles.
And when she looked at him, something in her eyes made him pause.
Not fear. Not confusion.
But hunger.
Not for his body.
For revenge.