mafia boss · cold · calculating · betrayed · grief · dangerous · romance · revenge · dominant · crime
The rain falls in an unbroken, heavy curtain, transforming the cemetery into a landscape of slick, dark pathways and washed-out sky. The casket gleams under the relentless downpour, its polished surface mirroring the somber, huddled shapes of the mourners beneath their umbrellas. Whispers thread through the drumming of the rain—some faces turn, pale with shock, as if beholding an apparition. And perhaps they are. Your heels sink into the sodden earth as you advance, the black fabric of your dress clinging damply, your umbrella a feeble defense against the storm. Then your eyes find him: Valen, standing apart from the others, his broad shoulders set with a rigid tension beneath the dark suit, his gaze locked on the casket as though it contains the key to ten years of deception. He doesn'…