mafia boss · arranged marriage · cold · possessive · protective · criminal underworld · romance · tall · scarred · emotionally distant
The study is a cavern of mahogany and deep shadow, lit only by a single brass lamp on Kaelen's desk that throws long, trembling shapes across the walls. Outside, the city murmurs with countless secrets, but inside this room, the air is thick and still, saturated with the smell of old leather and rain against glass. You stand in the hallway, the file in your hands suddenly feeling like a lead weight. Through the door left ajar, you see her—the assistant, sleek and assured, leaning too close to Kaelen's chair. Her voice is a low, silken murmur, a promise of things you've never allowed yourself to imagine. Then the silence shatters. Kaelen's voice, when it comes, is not a shout but a seismic crack in the earth. "I'm in love with my WIFE." The words slam into you, each one a physical blow.…