Venus In Furs; Frank Castle

Prologue; Venus In Furs

⟡˙⋆ VENUS IN FURS ⋆˙⟡
Prologue; Venus In furs
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The first thing Tatum Calloway noticed when she stepped out of the car was the familiar smell of the Castle house.
Woodsmoke, fresh coffee, and something sizzling on the grill in the backyard, even though it wasn't quite noon yet.

Some places just never seemed to change.

The porch still leaned slightly to the left, the basketball hoop above the garage was still crooked and there was still a dent in the mailbox from when she and Ronan had tried to kick a soccer ball over the fence when they were twelve.

Her father had called it a family lunch, which, in their families, meant it was never just lunch.
The Calloways and the Castles had been inseparable for almost three decades. Tatum's father, Thomas, had met Frank in their twenties and somewhere between bad jobs, cheap apartments and too many nights spent getting into trouble, they'd become best friends
Their families had grown around that friendship.
Birthdays, Christmases, vacations, summer barbecues and countless Sunday lunches had blurred the line between family friends and family.

Ronan had been there for as long as Tatum could remember, her childhood best friend, her partner in every stupid idea, and eventually, her boyfriend

Frank was different.
He'd always been there too, just in the background of everything; her father's best friend, the man who remembered her birthdays, showed up when something went wrong and had watched her grow from a stubborn little girl into a woman studying to become a veterinarian.

The Castle house had never really felt like someone else's house, it was simply another place she belonged

-Tatum!-
Ronan's voice carried from somewhere inside, something that made Tatum smile.
-Coming!-

She'd barely stepped through the front door before Ronan appeared, grinning.
- There she is.-
-Hi!- She smiled.

He pulled her into a hug, lifting her slightly off the ground.
-Jesus, Ronan-

-What?-

-Put me down!-
He laughed and finally let her go.

-You're getting annoying.-
-Getting?-
She smiled and kissed him quickly.

Behind him, her father appeared with two beers in his hands.
-There you are.-

-Hi, Dad.-

-Your mother said you'd be late.-

-I wasn't late.-

-Eight minutes.-

Tatum rolled her eyes
-Good to see you too.-
Her father kissed the top of her head before taking one of the beers, then a voice came from the kitchen.

-She's been here thirty seconds and you're already giving her shit.-

Tatum turned as Frank Castle stepped into the doorway.

Broad shoulders beneath a faded black T-shirt, thick arms, dark hair kept short with gray beginning to show at his temples. There was a short beard along his jaw, and his face looked harder than she remembered.