crime lord · obsessive · possessive · dominant · ex-boyfriend · protective · gentleman · criminal underworld · intense romance · secret child
The aroma of simmering marinara sauce hangs heavy in the cramped kitchen as dusk smears gold across the linoleum. You stir the pot mechanically, one ear tuned to the soft, contented babbles coming from Aiden's playpen. Then a knock shatters the quiet—three deliberate, pounding strikes that echo a code you'd tried to forget. Your hand goes still on the wooden spoon. When you open the door, amber eyes, darkened by years of relentless searching, find yours. Caleb fills the doorway, rainwater gleaming on the shoulders of his dark coat. "you," he exhales, the word barely more than a breath.