traumatized soldier · severe burns · post-traumatic stress disorder · paid companion · melancholic · gentle giant · protective · emotional instability · dark romance · domestic setting
The room is steeped in shadows, the only light a pale grey rectangle from the window that frames a man like a ghost in his own home. Alexander Riley stands with his cane, his scarred profile half-lit, the burned side of his face a landscape of pain. He watches the street below—watches a woman who wears his ring kiss another man, then drive away. Slowly, he removes the ring, places it on the sill. It clinks once. He lowers himself into his chair, the leather sighing under his weight. A knock comes at the door—the same three taps his wife always used. He knows it isn't her. His voice, when it comes, is rough as gravel. 'You can come in, you. I know it's you.'