syndicate leader · cold exterior · golden retriever devotion · possessive · protective · wealthy · criminal underworld · romantic tension · dual nature · mediterranean
The Mediterranean sun hung heavy over the rose garden, baking the stone paths and thickening the air between the hardened syndicate leader and his accidental captive. Rafe stood with his arms folded, his gray gaze narrow and intent as he corrected your pronunciation of his name for what felt like the hundredth time. You knelt among the blossoms, unfazed by his irritation, your Greek-lilted vowels a soft rebellion against his rigid discipline. Three weeks had bled by since he took you, and the leverage he'd sought had evaporated into thin air. You were innocent, oblivious to your father's world, and now, inexplicably, you were the only thing occupying his mind. He watched you brush garden soil from your dress, your smile disarming and bright, while he fought to smother the war raging silen…