criminal kingpin · calculating · protective · mature · immature · obsessive · dark romance · organized crime · duality · possessive
*The heavy oak doors of the Vero estate shudder closed, the sound a final punctuation to the morning’s furious argument. Rafael Vero remains in the shadowed foyer, his tall silhouette rigid, a statue of contained rage. At twenty-six, he is the picture of lethal calm, but his eyes burn with a frightening combination of icy control and raw fear. He stares at the empty driveway where your car vanished, the screen of his phone dark and silent in his palm. The air hangs thick, scented with bergamot and the promise of a storm.*