All Chapters of Torin-Shattered: Way Down We Go (Part 1): Chapter 71 - Chapter 80

I'd dealt with Casey quite a few times over the years and she always had a way of making me feel like I was the most dangerous man in the room, even when she had a whole squadron of cops at her back. When she finally pushed through the locked door leading from the offices and into the lobby, her eyes scanned me like a hawk eyeing its prey."What do you want?" she asked, not bothering to hide her disapproval."I got some information you'll be interested in," I told her, holding up the USB for her to see.Her gaze flickered to the thumb drive, then back to me. "What kind of information?" she asked, her voice suspicious.I hid a grin, knowing she didn't trust me. "The kind that will take down the whole Cartel operation," I replied, holding the thumb drive out to her. "Everything my uncle had on all his enemies, his partners, his dirty dealings."Her eyes narrowed, but she didn't reach for it. "What's the catch?""There isn't one," I replied. "Just take them down."Casey's eyes searched mi

~MARLOWE~I wasn’t sure how the hell it had come to this. Witness Protection! Oh my God! Never in my life had I thought I’d ever be in this position. But dammit, that's exactly where I had found myself! I’d done everything I could to adjust. It just hadn't happened. The first few days had been awful. I'd run to the window every time I'd heard a vehicle, a motorcycle, even freaking voices!They’d told me that I had to cut all ties, leave everything behind, even my name. I'd assumed the name Rachel Peters, a young widow who had moved to a small town to start over. I'd felt like I was in a fictional crime novel, except it was real---all too real.Now though, just as I was beginning to get comfortable being Rachel Peters, Casey shows up in my living room, her voice grim, she immediately starts tossing out orders. "We have a problem and we're going to need to move you."Panic set in. Well fuck me! I couldn't help thinking."What's happened?" I asked, immediately setting about gathering my t

The next morning, sunlight spilled through the half-drawn curtains, painting lazy stripes across the bed. Torin’s arm was heavy around my waist, his breathing deep, steady, as if sleep had finally granted him a rare mercy.I lay still, my hand tracing the strong line of his forearm. His proposal from the night before echoed in my mind like a heartbeat. Marry me. The words had been unpolished, unplanned, but real. They had anchored me in a way I hadn’t known I needed until they were spoken.But words, even promises, didn’t exist in a vacuum. They carried weight, and ours would ripple through every connection we had left: family, friends, enemies….especially enemies.By the time Torin stirred awake and tugged me closer with a groggy murmur, my nerves had already begun a low hum beneath my skin.“You’re thinking too loud,” he rasped against my hair.I laughed softly. “I don’t know how to break it to them.”His lips curved into a sleepy grin. “We tell them the truth…I asked, you said yes.

The first week back at life that felt normal was both exhilarating and terrifying. I had started spending mornings at the community center, teaching art classes to kids who reminded me that the world could still be simple, still be safe. But every time I laughed, every time a small hand reached for mine in trust, a shadow lingered behind the edges of my mind; Lucien.Even knowing he had no direct access to me, his name carried weight. It had been weeks since we were cleared to return to our lives, but I still jumped at unfamiliar sounds, and Torin noticed. He noticed everything.That evening, I found myself at the bar. Tannin had insisted, practically dragging me along. As she wiped down the counters, she chatted idly us and a few regulars. The warmth of the place, the low hum of conversation, it almost lulled me into thinking everything was okay. Almost.Torin stayed by my side, leaning against the bar with his arms crossed, his eyes scanning the room in a way that made me half-amused

~TORIN~I leaned back in the creaky chair of the safe house office, the glow of the laptop casting harsh shadows across my face. Maps, notes, and photos of people who might be connected to Lucien were spread across the table. Every name, every location, felt like a thread I had to pull just right, or the whole web would collapse.I have to find him before he finds her.The message Marlowe had received this morning replayed in my mind. You can’t forget me. I see everything. Short. Simple. And terrifyingly effective. Lucien didn’t need to reveal himself fully to remind her, and me, that he could reach us anywhere.I rubbed my face, feeling the tension in my jaw. I should have anticipated this. Months of careful planning, careful hiding, and yet he had found a way to slip through the cracks. And I knew this was only the beginning.My phone buzzed. I glanced down, expecting another alert from Casey or a routine check-in from one of our contacts. Instead, it was a text from an unknown numbe