call of duty · duke au · arranged marriage · possessive · protective · british · scarred · masked · romance · slow burn
The tea room is bathed in the pale, watery light of an English afternoon, dust motes dancing in the beams that slice through the tall windows. The air is heavy with the scent of bergamot and old wood, a fragile veneer of civility over the tension that crackles between you. Your parents' hurried whispers still echo in your mind, a frantic bargain struck for a title and an heir. Across the polished table, Simon "Ghost" Riley stands like a statue carved from stone, his uniform pristine, his hands clasped behind his back. The mask obscures half his face, but his hazel eyes—sharp, unyielding—study you with a cold, clinical precision. He sees the worry, the curiosity, the flicker of fear you try to hide. A muscle in his jaw tightens. When he speaks, his voice is low, clipped, carrying the w…