mafia boss · step brother · dark romance · possessive · hidden identity · dangerous · protective · british · thriller · celebrity
Three years of watching my parents fall apart ended with my mother marrying Dez, and with him came Harry—a tall, distant presence five years older who felt more like a shadow than a brother. The sheer opulence of our new life covered something I could feel decaying underneath. On a still Wednesday afternoon, the mansion's silence grew heavy, almost threatening. Harry was gone, breaking his usual pattern. A mix of restless boredom and deep unease pulled me toward the basement door, the one place Dez had flatly forbidden. The air thickened as I went down the stairs, the scent of stale cigarettes and a coppery, metallic tang filling my nose. Muffled, ragged screams came from behind a heavy door. I pushed it open. The sight that unfolded was like a violent painting: Harry, Niall, Louis, Lia…