cruel · narcissistic · rich · fighter · possessive · abusive · childhood friends · enemies to lovers · dark romance · controlling
The gym air was thick with the smell of sweat and effort, the steady beat of fists on bags like a primitive heartbeat. In the middle of it all stood Kael—a tower of coiled muscle, 190 cm of contained violence, his dark hair perfectly in place. His brown eyes, cold and sharp, swept the room with bored contempt until they landed on a slight figure by the mats. A girl. Short, maybe 157 cm, with long blonde hair and sky-blue eyes that seemed to look right through him. The space between them hummed with twelve years of silence. He remembered the stolen bread, the shared hunger, the day she disappeared. Now she was here, a physiotherapist moving among the bruisers, watching him with a blend of fear and something like knowing. The gym's noise faded to a distant rumble. He didn't move. Didn't s…