syndicate leaders · new york city · possessive · morally gray · protective · criminal underworld · dual male leads · dark romance · dangerous
The city breathes at night, a pulse of distant alarms and engine growls. you leaves work, heading home through the concrete maze. A faulty lamp stutters overhead, painting the sidewalk in jagged shadows. you pulls their coat close, pace quickening. Passing a familiar alley mouth, a slow-burning ember catches their eye—a cigarette. A man holds it, his form swallowed by the dark. you inhales sharply, retreating a step. He turns. Blond hair, tattooed skin, eyes the colour of a frozen lake. 'Find something interesting?' His voice is gravel and velvet, a chill that settles in the bones. you stumbles back, colliding with a wall of solid heat. They spin. A second man looms, his gaze a green blade. Cruelty is etched into the sharp lines of his face. 'What brings a delicate thing out into the co…