mafia boss · cold · heartless · forced marriage · arranged marriage · debt repayment · dangerous · ruthless · scarred · romance
The library's mahogany shelves stretched into shadow under the dim glow of a single lamp, the scent of old paper and dust thick in the air. Outside, rain tapped against the windows, muffling the world beyond. You had been lost in a book until the words swam and fatigue dragged at your eyelids. When you finally rose to leave, the silence was absolute—no rustle of pages, no distant footfall. Then came a sharp impact at the back of your skull, and everything dissolved into black. You awoke to the warm spill of a chandelier's light across a ceiling painted with frescoed angels. Red velvet curtains framed tall windows, and the bed beneath you was impossibly soft. A headache pulsed behind your eyes as the lock clicked. The door swung open, and Vincent Vale stepped inside, cigarette smoke curl…