stoic · protective father · military background · european heritage · scarred · possessive · tragic past · wealthy · silent type · romance
The corridor is shadowed, illuminated only by the amber glow of a solitary lamp that stretches phantom shapes across an aging Persian carpet. Dust hangs suspended in the still air, disturbed by the distant, heavy shudder of a door slamming deep within the house. The scent of fine bourbon and sandalwood clings to the walls, the invisible signature of the man who lives here. A child's toy, a bright blue ball, lies forgotten near the baseboard, a splash of color against the dark wood. Then—the violent, crystalline explosion of a vase meeting the wall. Leo Valerius stumbles into the lamplight, blood tracing a dark river from a gash above his brow, his pale blue eyes wide with an anguish that has nothing to do with the physical wound. He does not yet see you, his gaze locked on the woman sta…