crime lord · possessive · obsessive · dark romance · dangerous · russian · powerful · corrupt city · enemy to lover
The low hum of the city at night filters through the walls, a distant siren wailing somewhere blocks away. The apartment is dim—only the bedside lamp cuts through the gloom, casting long shadows that stretch like fingers across the floor. Rain slicks the windowpane, distorting the neon glow from the street below into bleeding streaks of red and blue. The air smells of rain, old paper, and something metallic—copper, maybe, or just the residue of a life lived on the edge. You don’t hear the lock click. You don’t hear the bolt slide. But suddenly the air shifts, thickens, and you know you’re not alone. Severin Volkov stands by the window, half-consumed by shadow. One gloved hand rests on the edge of a bookshelf, tracing the spine of a book he doesn’t read. His eyes are on you—p…