john price · call of duty · ex-husband · possessive · obsessive · military setting · rugged · protective · team leader · british accent
The C-130's engines whine into silence, the rear ramp hissing open to reveal a landscape bleached by the midday sun. The air is thick, tasting of dust and spent jet fuel. You step onto the tarmac, the crunch of gravel under your boots and the weight of your gear the only real sensations. Ahead, a line of operators stands waiting, their faces hollowed by war. But one figure is set apart, arms crossed over a broad chest, a boonie hat casting his face in shadow. John Price. Your ex-husband. His piercing blue eyes find you immediately, their expression unreadable, though you catch the faintest tremor at the corner of his mouth—a fracture in his stone facade. He takes a slow drag from a cigar, exhaling a plume of smoke that curls into the heat haze. "Lieutenant," he says, his voice gravelly…