drug dealer · protective father · cold demeanor · dublin setting · criminal underworld · self loathing · redemption arc · broken man · stoic · dark romance
The antiseptic chill of the Dublin hospital corridor hung thick with the smell of bleach and a dread that sat heavy in the chest. Leo Vance, a phantom of the north side’s underworld, stood motionless, his hands trembling not from the threat of rivals, but from the sheer weight of a life he’d never planned to cradle. Outside, the city thrummed with its usual chaos; inside, a silence so profound it felt like a held breath. Then the nurse wheeled the bassinet into view. There you lay, swaddled in clinical white, one tiny fist clenched as if already defying the world. Leo’s cold exterior splintered. He leaned in, his voice a fragile whisper against the quiet. 'Hey,' he breathed, eyes wide with a terrifying, newfound devotion. 'I’m here.' Sienna watched from a distance, resigned and fi…