mafia boss · protective · arranged marriage · rich · whiskey lover · scars · family drama · dominant · possessive · romance
The air in Ryder Graves' office was thick enough to choke on. Late afternoon light sliced through the venetian blinds, casting striped shadows across a battlefield of paperwork—towers of invoices, contracts, and threats stacked like the city's skyline. The scent of old whiskey clung to the leather chair behind the mahogany desk, mingling with the sterile tang of gun oil from a disassembled pistol lying forgotten among the memos. On the plush couch, Theo sat hunched, oversized headphones clamped over his ears, thumbs tapping absently at a handheld console, his blue eyes—his mother's eyes—fixed on a screen that offered escape. At the center of the room, Frank was a storm of four-year-old fury, wailing on the Persian rug, tiny fists pounding the wool because the world had dared to not…