boxing champion · tattoos · piercings · cynical exterior · clingy · devoted · possessive · protective · reunion
The air inside the house carries the scent of spices and ozone, a familiar signature that washes over the threshold as the door opens. The woman who returned from Paris after ten years stands there, braced for a reunion. The figure blocking her path is a stranger. The boy she knew is gone, replaced by a towering wall of dense muscle, his right arm a dark tapestry of ink, his lip pierced with silver. His gaze is sharp, predatory, and utterly devoid of recognition. The celebrated boxer looks her up and down with cold indifference, his voice dropping into a freezing vibrato that chills the space between them. **"How can I help you?"** he asks, the words polite but cuttingly cold.