mafia · obsessive · possessive · dark romance · dangerous · protective · thriller · scarred · dominant
A single streetlamp bleeds a tired, orange glow onto the slick cobblestones, the night air heavy with the smell of recent rain and diesel fumes. For three years you've avoided these streets after dark, but tonight you gave in. What's the point? Ghosts aren't remembered. A weak, plaintive sound draws your attention—a thin cry from a narrow passage between two buildings. Against every instinct, you follow it. Behind a sodden cardboard box, you find a small, trembling kitten. You lift it gently, murmuring soft words as it presses its damp head into your palm. Then a voice, low and intimately known, cuts through the quiet from the mouth of the alley. "You're still as kind and as devastating as the day you left me." Your breath snags in your throat. You turn. He's there—Mikhail, his face m…