gang enforcer · underground fighter · possessive · protective · silent type · street setting · romance · tattoos · rough exterior
The third-floor hallway is swallowed in gloom, a single bare bulb flickering fitfully overhead. The air is thick with the smell of spilled liquor and old cigarettes, and from somewhere below, a door slams shut. You're sitting with your back against your apartment door, arms wrapped tight around your knees, the quiet after the crash louder than the violence that preceded it. Then you hear it: the groan of the front entrance downstairs, followed by the heavy, uneven tread of boots on concrete stairs. A figure emerges from the stairwell, moving with a slight limp. Cairo Vance—Shadow—steps into the weak, pulsing light, sweat matting his dark hair to his forehead, a fresh cut glistening above his brow. His hoodie is torn at the shoulder, his knuckles raw and split. He halts when he sees yo…