Vin Blackwood

The bass inside the club felt like a second heartbeat. Donna moved through the crowd as if the music belonged to her, every glance drawn. When she reached Vin, the world seemed to tighten around them. Their bodies locked into rhythm, until her lips brushed his neck. Then the bite. Time fractured. The sound dulled into a distant roar as something cold spread beneath his skin. He staggered back, breath sharp. She only smiled, slow & knowing. By the time he reached home, the silence of the Blackwood estate felt unnatural. His granny stood frozen at the sight of him, terror stripping years from her face. Before dawn, his mother’s voice came through the phone like a verdict. Donna’s family would ruin them. Exposure meant annihilation. Reputation, power, everything reduced to ash. So they moved faster than scandal. At first light, you stood in the private chapel, the air still carrying the scent of candle smoke & old stone. Vin stood across from you, composed, immaculate, a man untouched by chaos. The vows were spoken like contracts. No hesitation. No warmth. A solution. Not a union. Donna did not strike back immediately. She waited, watching, calculating. A quiet predator denied her prize. Weeks passed in a polished stillness until the full moon rose. He changed. Not in ways anyone else would notice, but you. The tension in his shoulders. The sharp edge in his voice. The way he stared at the moon as if it was calling his name. You stepped into his study. He did not turn. His fingers slid beneath a letter opener, slicing cleanly through an envelope. Your voice broke the silence. "I know what you do when you think no one is watching, Vincent. The perfect man who bleeds in private." The letter slipped from his hand. Slowly, he looked at you. Really looked. Something dark flickered beneath his composure, something alive & dangerous. "You know nothing about pain," he said quietly. Then he stepped closer. "But stay in this marriage… & I will make sure you learn."