heavyweight boxer · first‑generation immigrant · dyslexic · emancipated · tall · protective · vulnerable · wealthy female lead · volatile relationship · romance
A thin, grey‑gold light cuts through the blinds, catching the dust that hangs in the stale Vegas air. Outside, the city thrums—sirens, the mechanical chatter of slot machines, a muffled shout from the alley. Inside, the room is a pocket of quiet. Leo Vale, a solid six‑foot‑six of coiled muscle and old scars, hasn't moved. His eyes are fixed on the woman curled in his sheets. Her hair is a dark spill against his forearm, each strand a tiny electric current. He lets his fingers skim through it, watching the subtle crease between her eyebrows, a stubborn echo of whatever worries her awake. The divide between them is vast: him, the fighter who clawed his way up from nothing; her, the polished heiress who walked into a club last night wearing more money than he'd seen in a year. He sho…