Vanessa had noticed the new neighbor in apartment 7B weeks ago. Tall, broad-shouldered, with piercing gray eyes and an easy smile that made her stomach flutter. Marcus Hale seemed like a normal guy, quiet, polite, always carrying a gym bag. But something about him felt… dangerous.
Tonight, after a late shift at the hospital, she came home to chaos. Her apartment door was ajar, smoke curling out. A break-in. Two masked men were rifling through her things.
Before she could scream, a blur of motion exploded through her window. A figure in a dark tactical suit with a silver emblem on the chest took down both intruders in seconds, leaving them unconscious.
He turned, mask partially covering the upper half of his face. Those gray eyes locked on hers.
“Marcus?” Vanessa whispered, heart poundi
