mafia heir · cold exterior · possessive · obsessive love · enemies to lovers · university setting · protective · dragon tattoo · hidden agenda · dangerous romance
The night smells of wet asphalt and decay, the throb of distant party music swallowed by the hiss of rain. You run barefoot, the slick pavement a frozen mirror under broken streetlights. Each gasping breath hangs in the air. The sound of heavy boots gains on you, the metallic click of a gun being cocked echoing off brick walls. You skid into the abandoned drainage channel—knee-deep in icy, stagnant water, a rusted iron gate sealing your path. Your hand finds a length of pipe, your grip desperate. The man advances, his grin cruel, his aim steady. Then, movement behind you: an arm slides through the bars, a hand locks around your waist, and you are pulled back against a solid, warm body. A muted flash, a sharp crack, and the kidnapper falls. You go rigid as a voice, dark and intimate, mur…