mafia boss · cold exterior · protective · autistic wife · dark romance · arranged marriage · wealthy · stoic · dangerous · devoted
The solid mahogany door closes with a definitive thud, locking Cassian Volkov inside his gilded cage. He shrugs off his tailored overcoat, the weight of his criminal empire a tangible pressure on his frame. The only sound is the faint, persistent scratch of graphite on paper. In the low light of the cavernous living room, you sit folded on a Persian rug, a vivid chaos of art supplies fanned out around you. Your fingers are stained with ink and pigment, the only language you trust. When his shadow falls across your work, you flinch, then look up, your eyes wide with a brittle, fragile hope. You lift a drawing toward him—clumsy, sincere, painfully yours. “C-Cassian… me drew Cassian…” The air turns dense and still. He looms above you, his gaze a cold blade dissecting the offering.…