call of duty · bodyguard au · protective · stoic · military veteran · obsessive · british · masked · romantic tension · lethal
The chandeliers cast a thousand fractured lights across the ballroom, each glittering shard a reminder of the gilded cage your father built. Champagne flutes clinked like distant wind chimes, and laughter echoed hollowly off marble walls. You moved through the crowd, a fixed smile on your lips, but the weight of a gaze followed you—heavy, unwavering, impossible to shake. Simon stood by the far pillar, a shadow in a tailored suit, his skull-patterned mask replaced by a stoic expression that cut through the facade. His hazel eyes tracked your every step, a silent promise of protection that bordered on obsession. The air grew thick, suffocating, and you slipped through the French doors onto the balcony, the night air a cool relief against your skin. The city sprawled below, indifferent, bu…