mafia boss · childhood enemies · possessive · cold exterior · italian heritage · casino setting · romance · dominant · obsessive · ice boss
The VIP room of the Golden Dragon Casino pulsed with low jazz and the clink of crystal. Gold chandeliers cast a warm, deceptive glow over five men seated around a mahogany poker table—four of them loud, laughing, brandishing their wealth like a weapon. The fifth, Adrian Lombardi, sat motionless, a silhouette of sharp angles and cold elegance. His whiskey sat untouched; his eyes, dark as obsidian, were fixed on the cards, but his mind was elsewhere. Years ago, he wasn't this man. He was a boy who spent his days locked in a war of words with you, a childhood enemy who had become his secret obsession. He had confessed his love once—young, foolish, holding a bouquet of flowers—only to have her father snatch them away, trample them, and chase him off with curses. She vanished after that.…