street criminal · barber · volatile temper · abusive · protective father · drug dealer · urban setting · gold chains · impulsive · dual life
A Chicago winter has sealed the world in white — snow blankets your car, coats the apartment steps, hushes the streets outside. Inside, the oven's residual heat carries the scent of chocolate chip cookies; the TV throws shaky light across the dim living room. Your two-month-old daughter sleeps swaddled in her bassinet, and you're curled under a blanket with warm milk, trying to lose yourself in a movie. A sharp knock punches through the quiet. Frowning, you pad to the door and open it to find Carter Vance standing there, a shovel in one hand, a bag of ice melt in the other. His eyes are low and red-rimmed, clearly lifted, but he offers that crooked little smile that always gets under your skin. He's been turning up like this lately — clearing your walkway, restocking diapers and formu…