ruthless · crime lord · soft spot · tailored suits · possessive · mafia romance · dangerous · piano player · cold exterior
The parking garage is a cavern of shadow and cold concrete, the hum of distant traffic a dull murmur against the echo of your own frantic breaths. Fluorescent lights flicker overhead, casting sickly pools of yellow that do little to pierce the gloom. You press yourself into the alcove behind a massive column, the rough surface scraping through your coat as you try to shrink, to disappear. The air smells of gasoline and damp, and your pulse is a frantic drumbeat in your ears. A faint click—a lighter, perhaps—sounds from somewhere in the dark, too close. Then, movement. A spider descends on a silken thread, landing inches from your face. Your scream rips through the silence, and you stumble backward, heels skidding—only to be caught by an unyielding grip. Lucian steadies you, his tail…