로그인Chapter 3: The Flickering Light The porch was almost finished. Arthur stood at the kitchen window with a cooling mug of coffee clutched in both hands and watched Leo secure the last of the new railings. Late afternoon light caught in Leo’s dark hair and along the strong line of his forearms. He looked unfairly good, focused and capable. Every day this week Arthur had told himself the same quiet lie "I’m only watching because it’s my house." The truth was simpler and far more terrifying. He was watching because he didn’t want Leo to stop coming. When Leo finally packed his tools and wiped his hands on a rag, Arthur felt the familiar panic rise in his chest. The porch was done. The official reason for Leo’s visits was disappearing. Tomorrow there would be no blue truck in the drive, no warm voice calling through the open windows, no steady presence filling the empty spaces of The Gables. Arthur heard himself speak before he could stop it. “The hallway light’s been fl
Chapter 2: The Squeaky Door Arthur called Leo the next morning before he loses his nerve. The storm had left the back porch in a sad, splintered heap, and the sound of dripping water from the damaged roof was already competing with the memory of the fixed faucet. When Leo’s warm voice came through the line, something in Arthur’s chest loosened. “Hartley’s. This is Leo.” “It’s Arthur. From The Gables. The porch… didn’t survive the storm.” There was a soft, understanding huff of laughter. “I had a feeling that old girl was living on borrowed time. I can be there in an hour.” Leo arrived in his faded blue truck, sleeves already rolled up, looking unfairly capable in a soft grey t-shirt and work jeans. He surveyed the damage with his hands on his hips, then turned to Arthur with that easy, crooked smile that made Arthur’s stomach flip. “Well,” Leo said, “she’s seen better days. But nothing we can’t bring back.” We? Arthur pretended the word didn’t settle warmly under his
Chapter One: The Leaky Faucet The drip was driving Arthur crazy. Plink. Plink. Plink He stared at the sink, his coffee cold and forgotten. The sound echoed through the big, empty kitchen. Plink. He'd been listening to this for a week. A week of meaning to fix it. A week of opening the cabinet, looking at the pipes, and closing it again. He was a writer. He could create entire worlds with words. But he couldn't fix a stupid leaky faucet. Plink. Plink... "Fine," he muttered. "Fine." He pulled out his phone and searched for a handyman. One listing popped up. Hartley's Home Repairs. The photo showed a man with a friendly face. Strong jaw. Warm eyes. A small smile. Arthur's heart did a weird little flip. He called before he could chicken out. "Hartley's Home Repairs, this is Leo." The voice was low and warm. Arthur felt his throat tighten. "Hi," Arthur said, his thumb nervously picking at a loose thread on his sweater. "I have a leaky faucet. And I... really do
Chapter 4: Claimed & Free They didn’t wait for morning. Two hours after Marco left, Luca and Alex were already on the road, the folded paper with the courier’s address sitting in the center console. The drive was tense and mostly silent. Luca’s hand stayed on Alex’s thigh possessively the entire time. The meeting point was an old shipping warehouse near the docks. Fog rolled in thick off the water. Luca parked two blocks away and turned to Alex in the dark. “You stay behind me. If I say run, you run. No arguing.” Alex met his eyes, steady. “And if I say we both run, you listen. Partner, remember?” Something softened in Luca’s hard expression. He leaned across the console and gave him a lingering firm kiss, lingering, full of every emotion running through their heart at the moment. When he pulled back, his forehead rested against Alex’s. “I hear you.” They moved through the fog like shadows. The courier was a nervous man in his forties who recognized Luca on sight and immediate
Chapter 3: Crossroads Luca didn’t lower the gun. He moved to the side of the door, motioning for Alex to stay back and out of the direct line of fire. Alex’s heart hammered, but he grabbed the second pistol Luca had left on the table and flipped the safety off with surprisingly steady fingers. Three more knocks. Same knocking pattern. “Luca. It’s Marco. I’m alone.” Marco. Alex watched Luca’s face carefully. The name clearly meant something. A muscle jumped in Luca’s jaw, but after a long, tense second he unlocked the door and opened it just wide enough to keep the advantage. The man on the other side was older than Luca, mid forties, with the same cold eyed sharpness that seemed to come standard with the life. He held his hands up, empty. “I got your location from the old contingency protocols,” Marco said quietly. “The ones you thought you deleted. We need to talk.” Luca didn’t invite him in right away. “You alone?” “Yes. And if I wanted you dead, I wouldn’t have knocked.”
Chapter 2: SafehouseBy the time the sun was fully up, Luca had already ditched the truck.They switched vehicles twice, once in an airport lot, another behind an abandoned gas station, before he finally turned onto a narrow, overgrown road that looked like it led nowhere. Trees closed in on both sides. The further they drove, the more the world seemed to fall away.The safehouse wasn’t much to look at from the outside, a small, weathered cabin tucked deep in the woods, solar panels half hidden under moss, and a cellar door that blended into the ground. Luca killed the engine and sat still for a moment, scanning the tree line.“Stay behind me,” he said.Alex followed without argument. His body still ached in the best and worst ways from the motel, and the dried mess between his thighs was a constant reminder of how roughly Luca had claimed him only hours earlier.Inside, the cabin was sparse but clean. It had one main room, a small kitchen, a bathroom with a workable shower, a reinfor
Chapter 2: The Second LessonThe next evening, Professor Adrian Vale stood in his apartment, staring at the clock. The time was 8:47 PM. He had spent the entire day telling himself he wouldn’t do this again. That it was wrong and dangerous. he might eventually lose his career if caught. Yet here he
Chapter 1: The First WarningThe night Professor Adrian Vale first truly noticed him, he wasn’t looking for anything or for any trouble.He had spent the last few years carefully rebuilding the walls around himself after a painful divorce that had taken more than it gave. Adrian had become very goo
Chapter 4: Dangerous GamesThe days after the revelation and message felt heavier, like the air itself was pressing down on them.Professor Adrian Vale stood at the front of the lecture hall on Thursday afternoon, delivering his notes on power dynamics with the same measured tone he had always used
Chapter 3: Cracks in the WallThe days that followed dragged on with a heavy kind of silence that wrapped around them both.Professor Adrian Vale moved through his lectures with the same calm authority he had always shown, but inside, something had fundamentally shifted, his thoughts kept drifting







