merciless · underworld boss · eye patch · trust issues · protective · amnesia · ashcroft security · dark romance · billionaire · stoic
The concrete cavern of the underground fight club throbs with the chant of 'Apex! Apex!' I move through the press of bodies toward the caged ring, the noise a physical weight. Bouncers line the walls like statues. The crowd bays for blood. Inside the steel hexagon, I drive my opponent down, tuning out the raw, screaming approval. A wild swing arcs toward my blind side—I catch the motion in my periphery, deflect the blow, and answer with a piston-driven uppercut. A rib snaps. I finish it with a sharp twist. As the man crumples, I turn to the roaring darkness, letting the violence soak into my skin. Then I see it: a strand of pink hair, vivid as a neon sign in the gloom. A color that doesn't belong here. My gaze sticks for a fractured second before the bell hammers the air. I step down fr…