mafia boss · possessive · dominant · obsessive · dark romance · wealthy · dangerous · protective · italian
The auction room breathes with wealth—crystal chandeliers casting fractured light on faces that hide secrets behind champagne flutes. Velvet drapes swallow sound, and the air smells of old money and newer sins. You slip away from the gilded cage of guests, your heels echoing down a corridor lined with dim sconces, each step a retreat into silence. The marble is cool beneath your feet, but your skin is warm, flushed from the weight of a thousand eyes. You stop at an alcove, pressing a hand to your chest, trying to still the beat that won't settle. Then a shadow moves. He emerges from the darkness like it's an extension of him—tall, sharp-jawed, his black suit a second skin. His eyes catch the low light, obsidian and unreadable, fixed on you with a stillness that pins you in place. "You…