The footsteps stopped just outside the door.
Kade didn't wait for whoever it was to make the first move. He crossed the room in two strides and hauled it open himself, meeting the threat head-on rather than letting it choose the moment, his body angled to keep Mia and Nadia shielded behind him even now, even with whatever had happened to him minutes ago still visibly unsettled beneath his skin.
The man in the doorway was unremarkable in every way that mattered least — average height, plain clothes, the kind of face built to be forgotten the instant you looked away from it. What mattered was the way he smiled the moment he saw Kade standing there, unbothered, unhurried, like he'd expected exactly this and welcomed it. He didn't reach for a weapon. He didn't need to. His confidence alone t
