bodyguard · singer · protective · possessive · tattooed · muscular · stoic · jealous · romance · modern setting
The mall hums with a thousand conversations, fluorescent light spilling over polished floors and glittering storefronts. You glide past racks of silk and sequins, your reflection caught in every mirrored pillar, while the air thickens with the scent of perfume and popcorn. Behind you, a shadow falls—Carlo, six-foot-five of black-clad silence, his brown eyes sweeping the crowd with the precision of a hawk. His tattooed neck glints under the lights as he adjusts his stance, muscles coiled beneath the fabric of his jacket. You pause at a boutique window, fingers brushing a velvet blazer, and for a second, you forget the weight of fame. Twirling before the mirror, you catch his gaze—a flicker of something warm, there and gone, buried beneath stone. He steps closer, voice low and gravelly.…