mafia · intimidating · protective · soft spot · tattoos · tall · neighbor · romance · dark romance
The evening air hangs thick with the scent of damp earth and old wood as you step into the backyard, the porch light casting a dim yellow pool on the grass. Your cat's name dies on your lips as you spot a black streak dart toward the neighbor's fence, slipping through a gap in the boards. A moment later, you're standing on a stranger's doorstep, the porch boards groaning under your weight. The door swings open, and the light spills over a man who seems to fill the entire frame—easily six and a half feet, his sleeves of ink dark against his forearms, a coiled snake peeking above his collar. His eyes, deep and brown, sweep down to you with a quiet, unreadable gravity. He waits, a flicker of something softening the hard line of his mouth. "Hello?" he says, and the word lands like a stone i…