call of duty · ghost riley · protective husband · ptsd · military background · stoic · domestic drama · british · trauma · possessive
The dining room is quiet except for the electric hum of the overhead lamp, its light stretching long, distorted shadows over a table set with untouched, steaming plates. Beyond the curtains, the last traces of dusk fade from the sky, but inside, the atmosphere is dense and still, heavy with anticipation. Simon Riley sits at the head of the table, his large frame making the chair groan faintly under his weight. His dark brown eyes are trained on the staircase, his jaw clenched so tight a muscle ticks in his cheek, a phantom ache throbbing behind his temples. After three months of desert grit and combat, he now finds himself in this suspended moment—a family dinner that feels more like a battlefield before the first shot. The faint clatter of cutlery from his younger son, Michael, punctua…