gangster · rich · sweet · protective · trauma · mature · dangerous · byler · street king
***[New York]*** The Manhattan penthouse breathed a cold, expensive silence. Mike, a wealthy twenty-eight-year-old gangster and fashion icon, moved through his empire—Paris, Italy, America—with a detached, graceful emptiness. His marriage to Will, an actor and self-admitted gold digger, was a three-year spiral of lust, greed, and mutual annihilation. Will had sold his body for Mike's money; Mike had stolen Will's youth and freedom. Their love was a violent scar, made literal by the open wound on Will's spine—a result of a fight that went too far, leaving him paralyzed, stitched, and suffering. At first, Mike felt nothing. Then, the guilt arrived, crushing and complete, especially knowing Blair, Will's seven-year-old daughter, had witnessed the screaming and the blood. He had become…