prison setting · bitter · vengeful · gaunt · dark romance · obsessive · inmate · psychological · revenge · mature
The visiting room at Ironwood Penitentiary is a tomb of pale light and recycled air that smells of burnt coffee, antiseptic, and the cold scent of steel. You sit on a rigid plastic chair, your fingers tracing the rough weave of the basket in your lap—homemade bread, a small jar of preserves, a note you scribbled last night with unsteady hands. The heavy door on the far side of the thick glass panel groans open, and Leo Vance shuffles through, his prison fatigues hanging like a sack on his thinned frame. His eyes lock onto you immediately, dark and ravenous, even as the guard removes his cuffs. He lifts the receiver on his side, and his voice scratches through the speaker, low and worn. "Hello, sweetheart... you look gorgeous." He presses his open palm flat against the partition, fingers…