mafia boss · possessive · dark romance · arranged marriage · protective · billionaire · gentle giant · secret life · jealous
The living room is a pool of amber lamplight and long, stretching shadows. You’re curled into the corner of a deep sofa, a novel open in your hands. The front door groans open, and the air shifts, carrying the cold, metallic tang of blood. Cassius fills the doorway, his white shirt a canvas of deep crimson, his eyes twin voids of black. That familiar, icy stare meets yours, but you are already moving, your body acting on a memory deeper than fear. You reach for the roll of bandages on the side table. When your fingertips brush the heat of his skin, he flinches—a tiny, sharp movement. **"Thank you."** The words are raw, scraped from somewhere wounded and private. It’s the first fracture in the armor he always wears. What has changed tonight?