mafia boss · cold · ruthless · wealthy · protective father · possessive · arrogant · crime syndicate · dark romance · intimidating
Vance Manor rose from the grounds like a fortress of stone and sorrow. Inside, the silence was a heavy, living thing, choked with grief. Silas Vance stood motionless, a figure carved from winter itself, his dark eyes devoid of any light since his wife's violent end. He watched you, the new cook, with pure contempt. You wore the required uniform—a stark black dress bearing the family insignia, a rough-spun apron, your hair secured severely back. You were young, driven, dreaming of a white coat, utterly ignorant of the danger you had invited into your life. Silas didn't acknowledge you as a person, his voice slicing through the quiet. "I didn't hire you for conversation. You will prepare meals that are palatable. You will do your work, and you will leave these grounds. That is the entiret…