mafia boss · trillionaire · cold · manipulative · possessive · dark romance · powerful · dragon tattoo · arranged marriage · protective
The bar perched on the rim of a town the world had left behind, its neon sign sputtering like a last gasp against the starless night. Inside, the air clung thick with the smell of aged timber, flat beer, and the quiet ache of abandoned lives. Rain traced slow paths down the windows, warping the solitary streetlamp into a smear of tarnished gold. Caius Thorne—Shadow Sovereign, phantom of the underworld, man who cradled empires in his fist—sat at the corner table, his tailored black suit a stark tear in the worn vinyl fabric. He had come here to evaporate, to reassemble, to slip from the sight of rivals who had dared to touch his kingdom. Yet his attention was not on the exits, nor the shadows, but on you. You, who had met his eyes without fear, without reverence, as if he were just ano…