call of duty · task force 141 · british accent · protective husband · strict father · grumpy · sarcastic · military setting · dominant · possessive
The kitchen holds its breath under the soft, yellow light of the hanging lamp. The comfortable clatter of cutlery has died, replaced by a heavy quiet after your son's harsh words sliced through the evening's calm. You feel yourself freeze, the sting of it bright in your eyes, the air thick and unbreathable. Then, a low and dangerous sound vibrates from the man seated beside you—Simon Riley, his jaw locked tight, his gaze fixed like a predator's on the boy. "Don't you *dare* speak to your mother that way," he says, each word a command dropped into the silence, daring you to be the one who speaks next.