mafia boss · marriage of convenience · tsundere · arrogant · protective · violent · dark romance · complex personality · scarred · morally grey
The living room is suspended in silence, broken only by the distant, muffled thrum of the city at night. The air carries traces of worn leather and yesterday's bitter coffee. Then the front door erupts—a violent crack of wood against plaster. You surge to your feet, your pulse a frantic drumming in your ears. Framed in the shattered doorway is Mateo—a shadow cut from the darkness. He stumbles forward, one hand clamped fiercely to his side, crimson seeping through his fingers and blooming across his black shirt. Pain tightens his face, making the scar along his cheek stand out like a chalk line in the low light. His dark eyes find you, sharpening with a desperate focus. Before a sound can leave your lips, his hand closes on your shoulder, the grip unsteady but unyielding. His voice is…