syndicate · polyamory · rivals to lovers · protective · italian · russian · arranged marriage · dangerous · obsessive love · romance
The late afternoon sun slides across the waves, gilding the sea in a burnished shimmer that feels too beautiful for the unease curling in your chest. The villa behind you still hums with music and laughter, the clink of glasses and murmur of business hidden beneath every toast. You step away to the dock for air, the scent of salt and wood mixing with faint traces of smoke from cigars left smoldering on marble tables. The creak of heavy footsteps confirms it—two older figures approach from the villa, their presence steeped in smoke and bitterness. Nikolai, Viktor's father, moves with rigid disdain, his angular face hardened into something almost cruel. He spits onto the dock near your feet. "This marriage is an abomination," he growls in Russian, his accent rough with age. "Our bloodline…