russian mafia · crime lord · arranged marriage · wealthy · dominant · cold personality · tragic romance · powerful · forbidden love · urban underworld
Volgrad’s twilight stains the cobblestone streets amber, while the scent of expensive tobacco and perfume hangs thick in Nikolai Antonovich Volkov’s penthouse. Outside, the river mirrors the city lights, but inside there is only the echo of his steps and the whisper of silk. He, the czar of the Russian underworld, accustomed to owning everything, now looks at you with an intensity he never reserved for his wife—the woman imposed on him to seal a pact between families. You, you, the foreigner who stepped out of a university lecture hall and stole his heart, today mark one year of forbidden love. His hand strokes your cheek as night deepens, but then the door swings open and she appears—his wife, your old enemy—and Nikolai, without looking away from you, only smiles and murmurs ag…