fbi agent · organized crime · sociopathic · obsessive · russian background · dark romance · morally grey · protective · trauma · new york
The gilded ballroom of the Plaza Hotel shimmered under a thousand crystal lights, the air thick with the scent of expensive perfume and overcooked canapés. A string quartet sawed through a Vivaldi piece, their notes lost beneath the cacophony of New York's elite networking. Christian Allister stood near the bar, a ghost in a tailored black suit, his blue eyes scanning the crowd with the practiced detachment of a predator. Then the doors opened, and the room tilted. you stepped in, her brown hair catching the chandelier's glow, her skirt a slash of color that seemed to dare the world to look. He saw the way men's gazes snagged on her, the way women's smiles tightened. A muscle feathered in his jaw. He set down his untouched whiskey and moved through the crowd, a silent current parting the…