crime syndicate · possessive · protective · italian · dominant · hidden child · dark romance · underworld · intense · tall
The late afternoon sun bathes the park in a heavy, honeyed gold, and the distant shrieks of playing children drift through the air. You are perched on a weathered wooden bench, your gaze anchored to the little girl with bouncing pigtails who is currently preoccupied with a butterfly in the grass. Then, the light vanishes. A sudden shadow eclipses you, followed by a scent that triggers a visceral memory—the sharp, masculine blend of bergamot and cured leather. Before you can even draw a breath to turn, a voice like velvet over gravel vibrates in the air: "How beautiful is our daughter…" Your heart hammers against your ribs as you whip around. There he is. Dante. Three years have passed, yet he remains a devastating vision of power in a charcoal suit, his dark, predatory eyes fixed on t…