The heavy steel doors of Hell's Watch slammed shut behind me, the sound cracking through the corridor like a gavel striking bone. Fucking finally, and I stepped forward and dragged in a breath so deep it burned, the cold city air slicing into my lungs like punishment and relief all at once. It tasted like exhaust, rain-soaked concrete, and freedom raw and unforgiving.
Still, my chest felt fucking tight and too tight, like something had stayed behind inside me when I walked out.
"You okay?"
Clara's voice cut clean through the static before my thoughts could spiral any further. Calm. Measured. Grounded. She always sounded like she was bracing for impact, even when pretending everything was fine.
I turned toward her.
She was leaning against the squad SUV, arms crossed, posture relaxed, but eyes razor sharp. Watching me, reading me, and not judging. That was the worst part was that she was worried.
"I'm fine," I said.
The words came out clipped, coiled tight, like they were barely tolerating daylight. Her eyebrow lifted a fraction, not accusatory, just questioning, but she didn't push. Not yet.
"Uh-huh," Ryan muttered, stepping closer and craning his head like I was the crime scene. "You're 'fine.' Right. Because normal people leave maximum-security facilities sweating through their shirts in forty-degree weather."
I shot him a warning look. "Ryan."
"What?" he said, unfazed. "Pulse is definitely elevated. Pupils a little blown. Jaw locked like you're chewing glass. Totally textbook 'fine.'"
Sophie leaned against the passenger door, arms folded, smirk already forming like she'd found a loose thread she fully intended to pull. "I've seen you interrogate serial killers without blinking, Cap. This?" She tilted her head. "This is… new."
I clenched my jaw harder.
Because the truth was still crawling under my skin, hot and unwelcome.
Hell's Watch gym hadn't just been a room; it had been a stage.
A cage dressed up as an open space and a fucking trap.
And Adrian Blackwood hadn't even pretended otherwise. The way he moved. Slow. Deliberate. Like time bent around him instead of the other way around. The way he leaned in. Just enough, and the way silence itself felt heavy when he chose not to speak.
All of it was still inside me, humming in my nerves, etched into my muscles like muscle memory I hadn't consented to form.
"Come on," I muttered, scrubbing a hand through my hair. "Let's get back to the office. We've got work ahead of us. And a briefing."
Clara's gaze didn't waver.
"Cap."
I took two steps forward anyway.
She followed. "You don't get points for pretending nothing happened."
I stopped short and turned to her. "I'm not pretending," I snapped. "Nothing happened."
Ryan pulled a face. "That sounded rehearsed."
"Ryan."
"He's a criminal," Ryan continued, palms up like he was offering logic as a peace treaty. "You're Captain Cole. You've handled cartel bosses, mass murderers, cult leaders—"
"I said enough," I cut in, spinning fully toward him. "You are fucking right."
The words came out sharper than intended, edged with something dangerous, and his grin finally faltered. Just enough to register, and Sophie stepped in smoothly, eyes bright with curiosity and something sharper beneath it. "So what the hell did happen in there, Cap?"
"What could happen?" I shot back, deflecting hard and fast.
Clara moved closer, her voice gentle but firm, grounding without coddling. "Captain Cole has this under control."
I nodded. "Absolutely."
The lie tasted bitter.
Because even standing here, free, armed, surrounded by my team, I could still feel Adrian Blackwood's presence like a brand burned along my spine.
I hated that part most.
"Okay," Clara said, checking her watch and slipping cleanly back into command mode. "Tech lab first. Ryan, I want surveillance cross-referenced gym cams, visitation logs, inmate movement."
"Already thinking it," Ryan said, straightening.
"Sophie," Clara continued, "gang activity, dealer networks, everything connected to Chimera."
Sophie was already tapping on her tablet. "Already pulling threads."
Ryan nodded, all humor gone. "On it."
I exhaled slowly and knew that the orders were safe, the procedure was safe, and Adrian Blackwood was a fucking problem contained behind concrete and steel.
"For now?" Sophie echoed softly, lips twitching. "That's the part that bothers me."
I ignored her as traffic surged around us, horns blaring, sirens wailing somewhere down the block, pedestrians arguing over crosswalk rights. The city moved as if nothing had shifted. Inside me, nothing moved correctly, and the encounter hadn't been a negotiation. It had been a collision of two fucking forces intersecting where they absolutely shouldn't have.
Clara bumped my arm lightly. "Focus on the problem. Results, not introspection."
I nodded again, but my mind refused to settle. Adrian's eyes still burned behind my eyelids. The way he watched without blinking. How could a man look so relaxed in a place designed to break people? How could silence feel like pressure when he occupied it?
I opened the SUV door and slid into the driver's seat, gripping the steering wheel harder than necessary. The door shut with a satisfying click, and Ryan climbed into the passenger seat, buckling up with exaggerated care. "So, Captain."
"No."
"You didn't even let me ask!" He whined, and his voice rose a bit high.
"Still no," I responded in an assertive voice.
He sighed dramatically. "Fine. Sophie, you ask."
She leaned forward between the seats, grin sharp and merciless. "On a scale of one to ten—"
"No."
"How hot is—"
"Stop." My palm hit the dashboard, not hard, but firm enough to end it.
Clara laughed despite herself. "We need to know, Cap, it's killing us."
"Fuck," I muttered, the word slipping out like a confession I hadn't meant to make.
Ryan perked up instantly. "Ah. Breakthrough."
"We're helping," he added quickly. "Psychological groundwork."
"Enough," I growled.
Sophie shrugged. "He must have really gotten under your skin if you're growling, Cap."
I stared straight ahead. "I hate all of you."
"No, you don't," Clara said gently.
Ryan patted my shoulder. "We're here for you, Cap, through this difficult emotional crisis."
I choked. "Ryan."
"Infatuation emergency," he corrected solemnly.
Clara laughed. "Okay, okay. Enough."
Ryan saluted. "For the record: Captain was visibly affected by Adrian Blackwood."
"I was not," I snapped.
Sophie whistled low. "Oh. The guilt yelling."
I groaned as Ryan started the SUV and pulled us into traffic.
"Fucking Drive or I will ensure you all get desk duties for the next month," I growled at him in annoyance.