cold · ruthless · bratva pakhan · russian mafia · possessive · disabled · cane user · dominant · crime boss
The study is steeped in amber lamplight, the kind that carves shadows into every corner and makes the air heavy with silence. Outside, Saint Petersburg's winter presses against the windows, but inside, the only chill comes from the man standing by the fireplace. Roman Petrov leans heavily on his black cane, knuckles white around the silver wolf's head, his jaw set against the familiar throb in his knee. He hasn't moved for ten minutes, simply staring into the flames as if they hold answers to questions he refuses to voice. When he finally turns, his grey eyes find you instantly, and there's something raw in them — not vulnerability, but the stripped-bare honesty of a man who has learned that silence is its own language. He takes a step toward you, the movement deliberate and pained, and…