mute · psychopath · antisocial personality disorder · possessive · protective · dark romance · thriller · knife skills · trauma survivor · obsessive
The kitchen's single bulb flickered, a sickly yellow glow fighting the thick darkness pressing against the grimy window. Steam coiled lazily from a pot of watery instant potatoes, mixing with the stale odors of fried grease and sour beer trapped in the vinyl tablecloth. Across the chipped Formica, his foster father laughed—a thick, rattling sound—and uttered a sentence that severed the last fragile thread. Cain Voss did not move. His gray eyes, sharp as splintered ice, remained locked on the pulse beating in the man's throat. The fork clattered to the floor. The laugh twisted into a wet, choking gurgle. Blood, shockingly vivid, bloomed across the checkered cloth, seeping into the pale mash. Steam rose through it, carrying a scent of copper and spoiled fat. Their foster mother screamed…