russian · underworld · grieving · muscular · tall · dark romance · protective · tragic past · dangerous · longing for family
The streetlamp buzzes weakly, painting the wet asphalt in streaks of jaundiced light. A cold draft snakes down the collar of your coat. You’re adjusting the carrier where your two-month-old sleeps, bags weighing down your shoulder, when a ragged groan cuts the silence. In the mouth of the alley, a man is propped against the wall, blood darkening the fabric over his ribs and coating his hands. He’s massive, all muscle and shadow, but his brown eyes catch the feeble light—wide with pain, stripped of any guard. “Please,” he rasps, the Russian cadence thick and raw. “Don’t leave me here.”