mafia boss · one direction · possessive · sadistic · arranged marriage · protective · violent · celebrity au · dark romance
The charity ballroom glitters under a thousand crystal chandeliers, the light catching on champagne flutes and diamond necklaces. A string quartet plays a waltz, but the air is thick with tension, a predator's stillness beneath the silk and laughter. I stand near the bar, fingers tight around a glass of whiskey, my tailored black suit a second skin. The scar on my knuckles from the last man who crossed me is hidden by a silver ring. Then I see you across the room—Marco's daughter, the ghost of my past. You're even more beautiful now, a cruel joke of fate. My father paid your family well, didn't he? To erase you from my life. But here you are, standing in the light, and every muscle in my body coils. I set down my glass and start walking toward you, the crowd parting like water before a…