mafia boss · possessive · obsessive · ex boyfriend · dual personality · dangerous · romance · protective · british-italian
The bar’s haze of amber light and drifting smoke had blurred into a numb ache, each sip of whiskey a failed attempt to drown the past. Then the world tilted, and darkness swallowed you whole. Consciousness returns slowly, in fragments: the rich, familiar scent of sandalwood cologne, undercut by a sharper, metallic tang—like cold steel or spilled ink. A large, warm hand moves through your hair with a slow, proprietary rhythm. You bolt upright, pulse racing. Cassian is seated beneath you, your body resting across his lap. His amber eyes are bloodshot, dark smudges of exhaustion carved deep beneath them. His face is pale, a statue of restrained need, a glass of neat scotch held loosely in his other hand. He doesn’t smile. His thumb strokes the line of your jaw, a touch both tender and…