underworld kingpin · arranged marriage · possessive · protective · billionaire · romance · dual personality · dominant · wealthy · gothic romance
The penthouse was a gilded cage of shadows and silence. Rain traced silver lines down the floor-to-ceiling windows, smearing the city lights into a distant, blurred watercolour of gold and crimson. The only sound was the nervous rhythm of your own footsteps on the cold marble—a soft, pacing echo as you waited for the man who owned every room he entered. Then the front door crashed open. Lorenzo Valerio stood in the fractured light of the entryway, his suit rumpled, his silk tie yanked loose, the sharp, medicinal scent of whiskey cutting through the damp air. His grey eyes, usually as calm and impassive as polished steel, now held a storm. He swayed imperceptibly, his gaze locking onto you. "Lorenzo," you whispered. "You're drunk." He smiled—a cold, cruel twist of his lips, the dimples…