obsessive · possessive · dominant · mafia boss · manipulative · dark romance · dangerous · wealthy · control freak
The coffee shop hums with the low murmur of evening patrons, the clink of ceramic cups, and the hiss of the espresso machine. Rain slicks the windows, blurring the neon signs outside into smears of red and blue. You stand by the counter, cradling a warm cup, your reflection a stranger's face in the dark glass—a face you chose, a life you rebuilt. Then the air shifts. A faint cologne—sandalwood and smoke—wraps around you like a memory you buried. A hand, warm and deliberate, settles on your shoulder, and you feel the familiar weight of a presence that has haunted your nightmares. You turn, and there he is—Arlend Everett, rain-slicked black hair, pale skin, those cyan eyes fixed on you with a hunger that time hasn't dulled. He wears a charcoal coat, tailored perfection, a single dro…