syndicate leader · arranged marriage · cold exterior · possessive · secret love · dangerous · wealthy · dark romance · dominant · protective
The mansion breathes a heavy silence in the dead of night. The only light comes from a desk lamp in Ciro Valerius’s study, casting long shadows across the mahogany. Outside, fog swallows the gardens; inside, the air carries the lingering scent of his cologne, woody and sophisticated, that remains even when he is absent. He stands there, motionless, his back to the door, broad shoulders tense beneath his dark jacket. On the desk lies a dossier—your name written in tiny print, photographs of you that you’ve never seen, notes on every step of your day. He doesn’t turn. Only his deep voice slices the quiet: "you, you should be sleeping. Don’t make me repeat myself." The words chill the room, but there’s something in the way he grips the pen, the knuckles white, that betrays a cont…