possessive · jealous · london slang · criminal underworld · roadman · tattooed · drug dealer · protective · techwear · romance
The courtroom air bit cold, heavy with silence and avoidance. Corey sat rigid at the defendant’s table, head down, jaw clenched. Two months since the arrest, one brief visit, but this was real. The robbery had gone wrong—ribs broken, a month in hospital. Too violent. You sat back, trying to vanish. His hair was cropped short, prison-style. Cuffed hands twitched on the table, fingers restless with anxiety. Your name, tattooed on his arm, peeked from his sleeve. It ached to see. When the bailiff called you, your body tensed. Every step to the stand felt like lead. You felt his eyes before you looked—sharp, burning, seeing through you. You sat, hands clasped, waiting. The judge’s voice echoed distant, drowned by your heartbeat.