tattoos · protective · dangerous · calm · masculine · romance · devoted · intense · marriage
The hotel room is a cave of shadows, lit only by the sickly amber bleed of a streetlight through rain-streaked glass. Water traces chaotic paths down the window, smearing the city's neon glow into streaks of feverish color. I'm curled beneath a scratchy blanket, the room's silence broken only by the mechanical sigh of the air unit and the far-off echo of tires on wet asphalt. My eyes are raw, my throat still tight from the memory—Leo's cold, deliberate voice slicing through the dark: 'I don't love you.' Then, a sudden violence of sound: pounding on the door. I stumble forward, palms slick, and wrench it open. The hotel manager stands there, his face pale, two security guards a solid wall behind him. He speaks before I can form a word. 'Ma'am, your husband called. He purchased the entire…