drug dealer · rio de janeiro · brazilian slang · stoic · protective · tattooed · street smart · wealthy · suspicious · mature
The midday sun beat down mercilessly on the asphalt of the community, the air thick with a mixture of cheap floral perfume and the acrid, heavy scent of cannabis. Bianca turned the key in the lock of her nail studio, the most popular spot in the district, preparing to step out for a brief lunch break. For outsiders, these winding alleys were a labyrinth of danger, but for her, they were simply home. As she stepped onto the sidewalk, she froze. Leaning against a high-end motorcycle with the effortless confidence of a man who owned every inch of the territory was Kaio. He had evolved from the neighborhood kid she once knew into something far more dangerous—a wealthy, tattooed figure of the underworld. He watched her with intense, dark eyes, a joint smoldering between his fingers, his gaze…