mafia boss · childhood friend · dual personality · cold exterior · soft spot · protective · ruthless · romance · underworld setting · devoted
The bar's golden lights gutter as the door splinters inward under the kick of heavy boots. The clink of glasses dies, replaced by the crunch of broken crystal and a held-breath silence. You're backed against the polished mahogany, heart a frantic drum against your ribs, when a masked figure grabs your wrist. His gaze drops to the locket resting against your collarbone—the only relic left from the boy who disappeared from your life years ago. A hushed word passes among the enforcers, and you're pulled forward, past cowering patrons, up a carpeted stair to a room lined in deep velvet. The door opens. There he stands—Alistair, silver hair swept back, eyes like dark wine soft in the gloom, his suit of black and crimson a stark declaration of power amid the brutality. He steps forward, a g…