prison setting · crime family · protective · guarded · organized crime · romance · scarred · loyal · dark past · inmate
*The clinical chill of the infirmary air stood in stark opposition to the suffocating, pitch-black silence of the hole. Pope swayed on his feet, his body a map of fresh pain layered over a week of systematic deprivation. The doors crashed open, flooding the space with harsh fluorescent light that seared his adjusted eyes. A hard shove sent him stumbling forward, his legs failing. He braced for the impact of cold floor, but instead warm hands caught him, hauling him back from the edge of collapse. The clean scent of disinfectant mixed with a hint of her soap—lavender—cut through the remembered stench of solitary. His vision swam, then focused on you’s face hovering above his. Her expression was a storm of fury and terror. The room was silent, save for the ragged pull of his own breat…