Page 29 of Double Standards

We’ve placed our trust in each other, forming a brotherhood that will stand the test of time. But trust only goes so far, and I didn’t claw my way to the top to let some asshole with a law degree and a vendetta drag it all down. I don’t trust the otherfour to carry it alone—not when the D.A. 's breathing fire down our necks.

Six years of cat and mouse. Six years of staying a step ahead. And now the bastard thinks he’s cornered me.

Apart from Ryder—still hiding behind Daddy’s legacy—we’ve all been sharpening knives in the dark. I’ve been meticulous; keeping a low profile, staying away from the headlines. The violence we leave to ghosts—men who don’t have names. We do our dirty work quietly. We bleed money in public, not bodies. That's the difference between survival and spectacle.

A knock interrupts my spiral.

It’s not rushed. Not timid. Just... precise.

“Come in,” I say, letting my voice drop an octave lower than usual. Deliberate. Controlled. I watch for the shift.

I lean back in my chair as she steps inside, and I catch it—that flicker in her eyes, the barely-there hitch in her breath. She’s skittish, uncertain. Like prey unsure if the predator’s already fed or still hungry.

“Axel,” she greets, voice as soft as silk pulled too tight.

I motion to the chair across from me, and she obeys, legs crossing in one fluid motion. Her lips part to wet themselves—innocent or calculated, I don’t care. The effect is the same; heat sharpens in my blood.

She’s scanning the shelves behind me, her gaze lingering on the titles like they’re speaking to her. Those green eyes are lit with something I hadn’t expected: curiosity, wonder. There’s a dreamer behind that practiced composure. A woman who once got lost in stories, not courtrooms. It makes her dangerous in a different way.

I don’t trust dreamers. They chase illusions. Get people killed. Break their own hearts and everyone else’s for a glimpse of something better. Something that doesn’t exist.

She’s in black today, looking sleek and severe. But the white jacket she’s wearing cuts across her like a challenge. A warningline painted across her curves that says: don’t touch. My fists curl on instinct at the thought of the asshole she goes home to. The prick who gets to touch her, to kiss?—

Fuck. Rein it in.

I slide the letter I’ve been cursing all morning across the desk like a blade. “What are you doing about this?” The words come out harder than I intend, but I don’t apologize and she doesn’t flinch. Just tilts her head, that mouth of hers twitching in defiance.

She’s testing me.

“You know they’ve got nothing,” she declares.

She’s right. That’s what makes this worse. I’m being framed, and someone’s holding the door open from the inside.

“I’m motioning to dismiss. Lack of evidence.”

“It’s that easy?” I ask, voice flat yet dangerous.

“If you let me do my job,” she retorts, and I almost smile.

Almost.

She’s all fire. Soft around the edges, but a hazard where it counts. She’s not afraid of me—not really. And maybe that’s what keeps me interested.

I blow out a breath, my jaw tightening. If she were anyone else, I’d shut this down with a look, a threat, a quiet reminder of who’s in charge. But Cassie isn’t like anyone else. She stands in the heat, lets the flames lick at her skin, and stares right back.

“Is that all you wanted me for?” she eventually asks, chin tilted, nerves tucked beneath her irritation.

“Yes,” I grunt.

She rises, smooth as smoke, leaning just far enough over the desk to make my pulse throb. She drops a business card like a challenge.

“Next time, just call.”

And with that, she turns on a heel, hips swaying like she knows I’m watching.

Of course I’m watching. I can’t help myself. There’s something about the way she moves—measured, unbothered—like she owns the goddamn floor and knows I’m watching every step. It’s not about seduction, not really. It’s the power in her walk. The defiance in her spine. Like she’s daring me to stop her.

My gaze drags after her, slow and hungry. She doesn’t look back. She doesn’t need to. Cassie knows what she’s doing to me.