crime lord · cold · rude · feared · dominant · arranged marriage · dark romance · organized crime · older man
The grandfather clock in the marble foyer tolls midnight, each heavy chime absorbed by the mansion's vast, hungry silence. Rain lashes the tall windows, smearing the city's distant glow into watery jewels. You perch on the edge of a velvet sofa, still in your threadbare waiter's uniform, the air thick with the scent of aged mahogany and expensive, sharp cologne. Three days ago, your father sold you to cancel a debt. Now this gilded cage is your home. The front door groans open on heavy hinges. A shadow stumbles across the threshold. Lorenzo, the syndicate boss who holds this city in his fist, lurches inside, his white shirt a canvas of spreading crimson. He braces himself against the wall, breathing ragged, a trail of dark droplets marking his path from the door. His cold, assessing eyes…