Chapter 4

Sophia sat at her desk, staring into space.

She'd posted the job listing days ago, but not a single person had shown up to apply.

"Where does everyone looking for work even go these days?" she muttered, then got up and walked back to her computer.

What she didn't know was that everyone who had planned to come in for an interview had received a strange phone call the day before. The moment they picked up, a voice on the other end warned them to stay away from the studio. When they started to push back, the caller switched tactics and offered them a generous sum of money.

Sophia's pay wasn't great to begin with, so when the applicants heard the offer, they took it without much hesitation.

And the person behind all of this was now standing outside the studio.

Leon looked up at the slightly faded sign — "Sophia Independent Design Studio."

He stood at the entrance. Raven's car was parked around the corner, watching him through the rearview mirror.

Leon took a slow, deep breath.

In the past five years, he'd stared death in the face more times than he could count. His hands had never shaken. He'd never been afraid.

But now, standing in front of an ordinary glass door, he found it hard to breathe.

He thought of that faint scent of jasmine — the last thing he remembered before losing consciousness.

He lifted his hand to knock several times, then let it fall. He went back and forth like this more than once.

Leon closed his eyes. When he opened them again, his mind was made up.

He pushed the door open. The small bell on the door let out a bright, clear chime.

Sophia looked up on instinct, pulling on her usual professional smile.

"Welcome, how can I help you with—"

The words stopped in her throat.

Standing in the doorway was a tall man with broad shoulders, sharp features, and a slightly prominent brow ridge. His eyes were deep-set and intense, almost unsettling.

Just the way he stood there gave off a vibe that said: don't come any closer.

Sophia quietly reached under the desk, where she kept a small pair of scissors.

"Who are you looking for?"

Leon stood in the doorway and, for the first time, got a clear look at her face.

So it was her. The scent of jasmine from that night rose up from somewhere deep in his memory, blending with the faint smell of fabric in the room, and for a moment, he couldn't breathe.

Sophia noticed he wasn't saying anything, and it made her more uneasy — especially the way he was looking at her.

"What do you want?" she asked again, her hand already wrapped around the scissors under the desk, ready to fight back if she had to. "If you're here for protection money, I don't have any."

Leon snapped back to himself.

"I'm here about the job."

"What?"

"I'm here to apply for the assistant position."

Sophia blinked, then looked him up and down a few times.

"Do you have any documents with you?"

"What kind of documents?"

"A driver's license, academic credentials, a resume? I need to see something."

Leon was quiet for a second.

"No."

Sophia's suspicion grew.

"You came to apply for a job and didn't bring anything?"

"I thought an interview was just a conversation." His tone was flat.

Sophia pushed down her unease and looked him over again. Tall, dangerous-looking, no clear background, nothing on him, and staring at her in a way that made her skin crawl.

Was this guy really here for a job?

"The pay here is very low," she said, looking for a polite way to turn him down. "Eighteen hundred dollars a month. No housing. One meal a day included. Someone your size would spend more than that just on food."

Leon didn't even think about it.

"That's fine."

"Excuse me?"

"A meal included is enough for me."

"Most people look for work because they need the money. You'd really take this for that little?"

Leon nodded.

"Why?" Sophia couldn't hide the suspicion in her voice.

Leon thought for a moment and gave an answer that wasn't exactly a lie.

"I just got out of prison. I can't find anything else."

"Prison?" Sophia's eyes narrowed slightly. "You've been to prison?"

"Yes." He said it simply, without flinching.

Sophia's thoughts immediately started spinning.

"You should probably go for now," she said, easing back slightly and keeping her voice steady. "I still have other applicants to look at. I'll compare everyone before I decide."

"I've been watching for a few days. No one else has come in." He said it plainly, cutting right through the excuse.

The room got awkward fast. Sophia's guard went up even more — this man knew she hadn't had any other applicants? Had he been watching the place? Following her?

Leon noticed her wariness deepening and figured he was only making things harder for her.

He looked down and took a step back.

"Alright. I'll wait to hear from you."

He didn't want to push her. The longer this went on, the more she'd pull away.

Leon reached into his pocket and pulled out a small slip of paper with just a phone number and a name on it — a false identity Raven had prepared for him.

"This is how to reach me." He set it on the counter by the door. "If you don't find anyone else, give me a call."

Then he turned and walked out.

He'd barely stepped outside when a loud, rough engine cut through the air behind him.

He glanced over. A black motorcycle pulled up crookedly in front of the studio, and three guys climbed off and headed straight inside.

Leon didn't go far. He leaned against the wall just to the side of the door and watched quietly through the window.

"Sophia. Time to pay up for the month."

The bald man in front dropped himself onto the couch the moment he walked in, throwing both legs up on the table.

Sophia's face went pale. She stood up from behind her desk.

"I just paid last month. It's only the middle of the month..."

"Last month was last month," one of the guys behind him cut in. "The fee went up. Two thousand this month."