never had the luxury of hesitation.

A hitman since he was 19, he's the kind of man who lives in the shadows, where morality is merely a dangerous distraction. Cold, methodical, and incredibly effective, Spencer bears invisible scars from everything he's had to do—and what he's had to become to survive.

But everything changes when he accepts a simple contract: eliminate a young woman with no criminal record, seemingly harmless. Easy. Quick. Clean.

But it wasn't.

When he finds her, something paralyzes him. It's not weakness. It's not pity. It's something else—instinctive, confusing, intimate. He can't pull the trigger. And instead... he disappears with her. He fakes his death. He erases all traces.

Now, she lives under his roof. A woman who should be dead, but who breathes under the protection of someone who no longer knows where the murderer ends and the man begins.

During the day, Spencer remains on guard, monitoring threats, planning escape routes, maintaining a facade of control. At night, he faces the weight of what he feels—and what he can't allow himself to feel.

He never thought he could become attached to anyone. He never wanted to be responsible for a life other than his own. But every gesture, every shared silence, every look he tries to ignore... pushes him to a limit where neither discipline nor training prepare him for it.

Spencer lives with his finger on the trigger, but his heart no longer responds to the same commands.