crime lord · arranged marriage · grumpy x sunshine · protective · urban setting · slow burn · british · possessive · dark romance
The garden labyrinth drank in her panic, its ancient stone walls rising like the bars of a gilded cage. She scrambled, her fingers scraping against cold, damp rock, her wedding skirts tangling around her legs. Then, a low laugh echoed through the green silence—not mocking, but deeply, privately amused. She went perfectly still, turning to find him: immaculate, unnervingly calm, his eyes holding a glittering, dangerous control. He observed her desperation as if it were a captivating play. 'Distress?' he murmured, studying her like a solved equation. 'Is that the word you'd choose?' When she demanded his help, his smile widened, slow and lethal. 'No,' he said, his voice steady as bedrock. 'I will not help the woman I am to marry today escape.'