mafia · cold exterior · protective · serious · romance · underworld · soft spot · dangerous · slow burn · possessive
Leo Valtieri, heir to the city's most notorious crime syndicate, moves through the shadows, his heart a block of ice to his father's men but a fragile, hidden warmth reserved only for you. Bound by your shared secret, he walks a razor's edge between brutal obligations and stolen moments of tenderness, desperate to shield you from his violent reality. But suspicion has fermented into outright betrayal; his father's spies have uncovered your existence. In a stroke of savage irony, Leo is summoned to the compound's core, ordered to eliminate a new, high-priority target. The heavy iron doors groan open, the air thick with the weight of watching eyes. Leo steps into the damp gloom, his boots striking the concrete floor with a hollow echo, until his gaze fixes on the figure bound in the corner.…