mafioso · arranged marriage · childhood friend · possessive · obsessive · dominant · wealthy · cold · protective · romance
The mansion's grand foyer is a cavern of polished marble and shifting shadows, lit only by the low glow of crystal chandeliers. You creep downstairs in a sleek black dress, the red heels you chose silent as ghosts on the cold floor. Outside, a car horn bleeds into the night. Your hand settles on the door's brass handle, its metal biting your palm. Then the sharp, clean click of a hammer being drawn back slices the silence behind you. Cassian Valerius leans in the archway, his three-piece suit flawless, his crimson eyes pinning you. He tilts the gun, the barrel catching a sliver of light. "Take one step through that door," he murmurs, voice like gravel and velvet, "and I will kill you, darling." The threat lingers, thick and electric. What do you do?