BENEATH THE MASK

New Recruit

The shipment arrived late. I was used to that—things never went smoothly in our world. There were always complications, delays, and betrayals waiting around every corner. That was just how things worked when you were dealing with millions of dollars and enough firepower to start a small war.

I stood on the docks, the cold wind whipping off the water and cutting through my jacket. The men around me were restless, their eyes constantly scanning the horizon for any sign of trouble. I could feel their tension, their impatience, like static in the air. They didn’t know how to stay calm when things didn’t go according to plan.

I did.

I’d learned a long time ago that the key to surviving in this world was patience. You didn’t panic when things went wrong; you waited, watched, and acted when the moment was right.

That’s when I saw him.

He wasn’t one of ours—that much was clear from the moment he stepped onto the dock. There was something about the way he moved, too smooth, too confident for someone new. Most fresh recruits had a certain nervousness about them, especially when they were trying to prove themselves. But Ethan didn’t have that look. He carried himself like he already knew where he stood.

I didn’t like it.

“Who’s that?” I asked Marco, who stood beside me.

He followed my gaze and smirked. “That’s the new guy. Your old man brought him in. Supposed to be a quick learner. He’s already got a reputation for handling things without getting his hands too dirty.”

I narrowed my eyes. “What’s his name?”

“Ethan Bennett.” Marco watched him for a moment, a gleam in his eye. “He’s sharp. You should keep an eye on him.”

I didn’t need Marco to tell me that. Ethan stood out immediately, like a wolf in a room full of sheep. He wasn’t nervous, wasn’t fidgety. He looked… ready. Prepared for something.

He was tall, with dark hair that curled slightly at the ends, and a square jaw that made him look older than he probably was. But it was his eyes that caught my attention—sharp, cold, always calculating. He was watching everything around him, but I couldn’t quite tell what he was thinking. That made him dangerous.

I had been around men like him my whole life—men who were more than they appeared. Men who had secrets.

I didn’t trust him, and I didn’t have to. Trust was a luxury in my world, and I never had the privilege of handing it out freely.

“Looks like your problem now,” Marco said, slapping me on the shoulder before walking off to oversee the rest of the men unloading the shipment.

I stayed where I was, my gaze fixed on Ethan as he made his way toward me. He moved with a purpose like he knew exactly what he wanted and how to get it. And that made me hate him a little.

But when he stopped in front of me, the look in his eyes wasn’t what I expected. There was no arrogance, no smugness. Just a cool, level gaze that met mine head-on.

“Alex,” he said, his voice low and steady. “I’ve heard a lot about you.”

“I’m sure you have,” I replied, my voice flat. “Don’t believe everything you hear.”

A slight smile tugged at the corner of his mouth, but it didn’t reach his eyes. “I don’t.”

There was a brief silence between us, the kind that usually comes before a fight or a deal. I couldn’t tell which one it would be yet.

“You’re new here,” I said, breaking the silence.

He shrugged. “New enough.”

“Keep your head down and do what you’re told, and you’ll do just fine.”

“I always do.”

There it was again, that edge in his voice like he knew more than he was letting on. I didn’t like it. Something about him didn’t sit right with me, but I couldn’t quite put my finger on what it was.

“You’ll be working with me for now,” I said, my tone firm. “We’ll see if you live up to your reputation.”

Ethan didn’t flinch. “I’ll try not to disappoint.”

I wasn’t sure if it was a challenge or a promise, but I didn’t care. I wasn’t here to make friends. He could try to impress whoever he wanted, but I had one job: protect the family and make sure everything ran smoothly. If he got in my way, I wouldn’t hesitate to deal with him like any other problem.

---

Over the next few weeks, Ethan proved to be good at what he did. Too good. He integrated himself into the operations quickly, learning the ropes faster than anyone expected. My father was impressed, and Marco was already talking about moving him up the ranks.

But I kept my distance.

I didn’t like how he watched me when he thought I wasn’t looking. He studied everything—how the deals were made, who the key players were, and what weaknesses he could exploit. He was always quiet and always calculating, and I knew better than to trust someone who paid that much attention to detail.

And then there was the way he looked at me.

At first, I thought it was suspicion. He seemed to be studying me like he was trying to figure out what made me tick. But there was something else, too, something more dangerous. I could feel his eyes on me when we were in meetings when we were driving together on jobs, when we were alone on the docks, waiting for the next shipment.

There was something in the way he watched me that made my pulse quicken, and I hated it. I hated that he made me feel anything at all.

I couldn’t afford distractions. Not in my world.

But the more time I spent with him, the harder it was to ignore. There was an intensity in the way he looked at me like he saw something that no one else did. As he saw through the mask, I’d been wearing for so long. And it scared me.

It scared me because I didn’t want him to see.

I didn’t want him to know that Alex was just a role I played, that inside I was still Ava, hiding behind a lie that had consumed my entire life. I couldn’t let anyone see that—not him, not my father, not anyone. If the truth came out, it would ruin everything.

But the way Ethan looked at me, it felt like he already knew.

And that was more dangerous than anything I’d ever faced.

---

We were alone on the docks again, overseeing another shipment. It had been weeks since Ethan had first arrived, and I still hadn’t figured him out. He was careful, always saying just enough but never too much, never giving away what was going on in his head.

But tonight felt different. There was a tension in the air that I couldn’t explain.

“You’ve been quiet,” he said, breaking the silence as we watched the men unload the crates from the ship.

“Just doing my job,” I replied, keeping my eyes forward.

“You don’t trust me,” he said. It wasn’t a question.

I glanced at him, narrowing my eyes. “Should I?”

He didn’t answer right away; he just kept watching the men work. Then, after a long pause, he said, “No.”

I stiffened, caught off guard by the honesty in his voice. Most men in this business would lie, would try to convince you they were trustworthy, that they had nothing to hide. But Ethan didn’t. He was straightforward, almost brutally so, and that threw me off balance.

“Why are you telling me that?” I asked, my voice low.

He looked at me then, his gaze steady. “Because I know you don’t trust anyone. And I respect that.”

For a moment, I didn’t know what to say. His words caught me off guard and cut through the layers of armor I’d spent years building around myself. I was used to men trying to manipulate me, trying to play me, but Ethan didn’t seem to want anything from me. He was just… there.

Watching. Waiting.

“Trust gets you killed in this world,” I said finally, turning my gaze back to the docks.

“Yeah,” he agreed quietly. “It does.”

We stood there in silence for a while, both of us watching the shadows move across the water. But in that silence, something shifted between us. Something I couldn’t quite name.

And for the first time in a long time, I felt… exposed.

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