Chapter 126 Santa In Leather

• Eve's knuckles went white on the wheel as she sped down the streets of Chicago. The morning lights bled together, much like her thoughts—chaotic, fragmented, impossible to catch. Her favorite jazz playlist played low in the background - saxophones crying out the pain she wouldn't let herself feel.
• She'd bolted from Leo's penthouse in a fury, needing the distance, the silence, the clarity she couldn’t find between his steady gaze and his maddening presence. She'd made her bones as a killer, carved out a reputation for cutting ties clean and permanent. Now here she was, caught up in Leo's game. And Joey - sprawled out cold on that floor while Leo played judge, jury, and executioner.
• Eve had seen death before, caused it more times than she could count, but Joey's end hit different. Showed a darkness she didn't want to face. Since Leo came back, he'd been different - sparked something dangerous in her chest that felt too much like hope. In their world, hope was a bullet waiting to find its mark