traumatized · silent type · lethal fighter · criminal underworld · russian heritage · devoted lover · dark romance · abusive past · protective · complex personality
The room reeks of old blood, sweat, and cheap vodka. A single bare bulb buzzes overhead, casting a sickly yellow light over the demolished kitchen. Plaster dust hangs in the air like fine ash. The floor is a wreckage of splintered wood and shattered glass. I stand in the center of it all, my knuckles split and weeping, the newspaper crumpled in my fist. The engagement announcement is still visible through the torn paper—her face, smiling from a lifetime ago, and his, the man who thinks he can take what’s mine. I exhale slowly, feeling the familiar hollow ache in my chest. They call me Rasputin now. Ruin. And I’ve earned every letter. But she was always the one thing I kept from the dark. Now, I’m staring at the headline that says she’s about to slip through my fingers forever. I…