The First Crack
1291 Words
The room was still, full of warmth and leftover dreams.
Sunlight slipped through the curtains and spilled across the bed, soft and golden, catching the two bodies curled into each other like they’d never planned to move.
Cassian’s arm rested on Lana’s waist, his hand splayed over the soft dip of her stomach. His thumb traced small, sleepy circles like her skin was the only thing that made sense.
Lana stirred a little, pressed her nose to his jaw, her lips brushing the edge of his throat. Her voice was all husky and half-asleep when she whispered, “Are you watching me sleep again?”
He didn’t answer right away. He just smiled and kissed the top of her head.
“You look like something I could never deserve,” he murmured.
She gave a small laugh. “You always say that.”
“I always mean it.”
She rolled onto her back, stretching. Her leg brushed against his. “Still not true.”
He leaned over and kissed her again, slower this time, like the moment meant something. Like it always had. Her fingers wandered up his chest, across the ridge of his collarbone, soft and sure, like she was grounding herself with him.
“I was going to surprise you with coffee,” he said quietly, words brushing her lips.
She smiled against his mouth. “You just did.”
They didn’t move for a while after that. Just laid there, tangled up in nothing but skin and trust.
That kind of love. The quiet kind. The kind that felt like home before you even realized you’d been searching for it.
Eventually, Cassian rolled out of bed and pulled on his slacks, moving with the kind of steady calm Lana always admired. She sat up, still tucked in the sheets, sipping the coffee he handed her.
“God,” she sighed, eyes trailing over him, “I love you like this, half-dressed, sleepy, mine.”
He chuckled, reaching for his tie. “You’re dangerous when you say things like that.”
“I’m just being honest.”
“You’re always honest,” he said, leaning in to kiss her cheek. Then, softer, “That’s why I fight so hard to protect this.”
Her smile faded for a second. Just enough for him to notice.
“What is it?” he asked.
“I don’t know.” She shook her head, eyes dropping to the coffee in her lap. Sometimes I get scared. Like… what if this isn’t meant to last? What if it’s too good?”
He walked back to her and knelt in front of the bed. Took her face in his hands.
“Then we’ll make it last anyway.”
They got ready in comfortable silence after that. Brushed shoulders. Shared glances. Stole little touches like they were always running out of time.
As they stepped into the hallway, Cassian carried her bag for her even though she didn’t ask.
“You sure you can’t drop me?” Lana asked, adjusting the collar of her coat.
“I wish I could,” he said, his voice lowered now. They pulled me in early. Some kind of urgent transfer.”
She frowned. “Another high-profile pain in the ass?”
He gave her a tight smile. “Something like that.”
She reached up, smoothed a wrinkle near his shoulder. “You’ll be brilliant. Like always.”
“I’ll text when I can.”
“I’ll try not to check every ten minutes.”
He laughed, kissed her forehead. “I love you.”
“I love you more,” she whispered.
Then she walked one way, toward NovaLux. And he walked the other.
Neither of them knew it, but the world had already started to shift beneath their feet.
Titanium Black, Private Security HQ
Cassian walked through the glass doors of Titanium Black. The place had always looked like it took itself too seriously: dark panels, cold light, no smiles.
He wasn’t even past the front desk when a voice called from the hallway.
“Ward. Upstairs. Office Three.”
His chest tightened. The kind of tone that never brought good news.
When he entered the office, his commanding officer was already waiting with a folder open, pen tapping against the desk.
“You’re being reassigned,” the man said.
Cassian stayed standing. “Effective when?”
“Now.”
The folder slid toward him. “The previous agent dropped out. Family emergency. But the board didn’t hesitate. You’re clean. Professional. Discreet. They want you.”
Cassian glanced down at the file. Vale Industries.
He didn’t open it right away. Just stared at the name on the cover like it meant something more than it should.
The officer sighed. “It’s Selene Blackwood. You’ve heard of her.”
He had. Everyone had.
Top tier. High maintenance. Power drunk. And apparently, currently without protection.
Cassian opened the folder.
Photo clipped to the top corner: dark hair, red lips, eyes like trouble.
Her file didn’t read like a résumé. It read like a risk.
He scanned the conditions:
• Everything you see, hear, or witness stays buried. No exceptions.
• Available 24/7. Nights. Off on weekends. No such thing as personal time during working time.
• No phones. No tagging locations. No names in rooms they don’t belong in.
• Suit and tie, always. No creases, no excuses.
• She sets the rules. You don’t break them, even when she does.
“Cass,” the officer said quietly, “Are you sure you want this?”
No, he wasn’t.
He had a good rotation. A life he actually liked. A wife who kissed him good morning and laughed in his arms at night.
But this wasn’t about what he wanted.
It was about what he was built for.
He closed the folder.
“I’ll report in now.”
At Selene’s Penthouse
Sunlight crawled across the white marble of Selene’s penthouse. The place was quiet. Still stained from the night before.
A wine glass balanced on the edge of the bar. Lipstick print half faded. A stiletto abandoned by the couch. Her phone buzzed on the floor somewhere, ignored.
Selene stirred under the silk sheets. Red slip twisted high on her thighs, dark hair spilling over the pillow in lazy waves. Her head throbbed faintly. Her mouth tasted like champagne and defiance.
She didn’t look at the time.
“Marisol,” she called, throat dry. “Let him in.”
The maid nodded and disappeared.
Selene didn’t move. She let the sunlight kiss her legs, stretch across her shoulders, warm the top of her breastbone. She looked wrecked in the most expensive way possible.
The front door opened.
Cassian stepped inside.
What he saw froze him.
Her.
The woman from the club. The one who tried to flirt. The one who looked at him like she could taste his secrets.
And now? She lay half-naked in the middle of his new post, silk clinging to her like a second skin. n*****s pressing against fabric. Legs curled just enough to stay indecent.
She looked up at him slowly, her lips parted. A slow, lazy smile crept across her mouth.
“You must be the new bodyguard,” she said, her voice rough but unmistakably amused.
Cassian didn’t speak. His throat tightened. The silence stretched.
She stood. Just like that. No shame, no adjustment. Walked across the room with the same heat she carried last night.
“I’ll get dressed,” she said, already turning. “I'll find you downstairs.”
And just like that, she was gone.
Cassian stood there, pulse tight behind his ribs, jaw clenched.
This was going to be hell.
And it had only just begun.
- Writer
