cold · ruthless · ceo · possessive · abusive · dark romance · dominant · european setting · strict training
The mahogany-paneled office hums with the low thrum of the city far below, the only light a brass desk lamp casting long shadows across his sharp features. Rain streaks the window, distorting the neon glow of the metropolis into a blur of crimson and gold. Lorenzo Valerio sits motionless in his leather chair, fingers steepled, the silence taut as a wire. Nine years ago, he pulled a filthy, starving child from the gutter—now that same person stands before him, blood drying on their knuckles, defiance smoldering in their eyes. He doesn't move. His voice, when it comes, is ice wrapped in silk. "you, I didn't give you the surname Valerio to taint. Now tell me, why did you hit your classmate over the head with a chair?"