The door shut behind Martin Stem with a soft thud.
Alexander let out a slow breath. Silence filled the room again, heavy and still.
Then, a second knock — quicker this time. Before Alexander could respond, the door opened.
A tall, broad-shouldered man stepped in. Older, maybe late 40s or early 50s. Square jaw, short-cropped hair peppered with gray, a jagged scar cutting across his left cheek. Military posture. Movements clean, efficient.
He stopped just a few steps inside.
Alexander raised an eyebrow. "You are?"
"Cain," the man said. His voice was low, rough, like gravel under boots.
Alexander blinked. He remembered the name from the hospital files. "My… bodyguard?"
Cain nodded once. "That's one word for it."
"And you've been—what—watching me?"
"Longer than you remember." Cain stepped closer, hands at his sides, relaxed but alert. "Technically, I report to your father. In practice, I handle you."
Alexander studied him for a second. "Military?"
"Used to be."
"Which branch?"
Cain didn't answer. Just said, "Long enough ago it doesn't matter."
Alexander leaned back against the pillows. "So what, you keep tabs on me? Babysit me through overdoses?"
Cain didn't flinch. "I keep you alive. Or I used to."
Alexander smirked. "Not a great track record lately."
Cain crossed his arms. "That wasn't on me."
There was a pause.
Cain glanced around the room. "You've been digging."
Alexander nodded slowly. "Yeah. Trying to figure out who the hell I am."
"You won't find the full picture online," Cain said. "Your father made sure of that."
Alexander tilted his head. "You knew me well?"
Cain's eyes didn't shift. "I knew the version of you that lived like nothing mattered. Partying. Breaking things. People. You were headed off a cliff."
"And now?"
Cain stared at him a moment longer. "Now you're quieter. Thinking more. That's new."
Alexander sat up straighter. "And if I told you I wasn't the same?"
Cain shrugged. "Doesn't matter to me. You're still the job."
"And if I go off the rails again?"
Cain looked him dead in the eyes. "Then I stop you. One way or another."
The room went still.
Then Cain added, "Until then, I'm here."
He moved toward the desk, picking up a tablet.
"Your schedule's cleared for the week. Doctor comes tomorrow. You've got physio lined up. No press. No visitors. Unless you want something changed."
Alexander shook his head. "Not yet."
Cain paused at the door.
"I'll be nearby if you do."
He left without waiting for a reply
Character Background: Cain
Full Name: Samuel "Cain" Wexler
Age: Late 40s
Height: 6'3"
Build: Broad-shouldered, ex-military physique
Notable Features: Prominent facial scar across left cheek, old burn marks on forearm, eyes like someone who's seen too much
History & Personality
Cain – Character Background Update
Full Name: Samuel "Cain" Wexler
Age: Late 40s
Height: 6'3"
Build: Muscular, hardened by years of combat and private operations
Notable Features: Faded scar across his left cheek, gunmetal-gray eyes, expression like stone
Demeanor: Stoic, blunt, emotionally unreadable — until it matters
History
Cain is a former Tier-One operative — a ghost who served in black-ops missions across unstable regimes, civil wars, and counter-terrorist operations. His name never made the news because he wasn't meant to exist. When his last operation — a sanctioned mission in Ukraine — left him disillusioned, he disappeared.
He was recruited off the books by Martin Stem, a global political and industrial powerbroker. Not as a soldier. As a "cleaner." A personal shadow. His primary role: handle everything Martin didn't want tied back to his family — especially his son.
Relationship with Alexander Stem
Cain was originally assigned to Alexander as a watchdog — one more problem to manage.
At first, Alexander was just a job: another reckless rich kid spiraling out of control with drugs, fights, scandals. Cain kept him alive, patched him up, bailed him out — never intervening more than necessary.
But time changed things.
"Spending years watching over him, patching him up, dragging him out of back alleys… it did something to me. I don't like many people. Still don't. But that kid? He got under my skin. Not because he was good — because he was broken, and still kept getting back up."
Cain never told Alexander he cared. He rarely spoke more than necessary. But he started withholding reports, choosing to hide certain self-destructive incidents from Martin. Not out of defiance — but because Martin didn't deserve to know everything.
"Martin never asked what his son was going through. Only what it cost."
Though Cain isn't blindly loyal, something about Alexander made him… watch closer. Even now, after the accident — or whatever really happened that night — Cain sees the shift.
Alexander isn't loud anymore. He's sharper. Quieter. Watching. Planning.
And Cain, for the first time, doesn't feel like he's protecting a lost cause.
He's guarding something dangerous.
Maybe even something worth following.