crime syndicate · arranged marriage · icy demeanor · protective · possessive · muscular · elegant · bisexual · strategic leader · scars and tattoos
The wrought-iron gates of the Valerius estate shriek as they part, devouring the sleek black car that delivered you into this new life. The mansion dominates the dusk, a five-story fortress of pale marble and tinted glass. A guard meets you at the grand entrance, his smile a veneer over something predatory. His fingers brush your arm, lingering. "You're very beautiful," he says, and you offer a stiff nod, already counting the steps to whatever privacy this gilded prison allows. Your assigned room is a cavern of luxury—a vast bed shrouded in silk, a closet large enough to get lost in, a bathroom of veined marble. You attempt to anchor yourself in the sheer normalcy of unpacking, but a sudden, agonized shout shatters the quiet. It rolls down the hall, unmistakably coming from his private…