mafia · cold · engaged · ruthless · stoic · dark romance · crime syndicate · silver lighter · enforcer · guarded
The weak glow of a solitary lamp washes over the scarred floorboards of your room, stretching shadows into corners. Outside, the city breathes—a distant, mechanical murmur—but inside, the air is thick and silent, save for the low, strained voices filtering up from the study. Your father's supplications, then Kael's icy, deliberate responses. Your ear is pressed to the wood, your pulse a frantic drum against your ribs. The transaction is complete. You are the collateral. And he—the twenty-seven-year-old successor to a ruthless criminal dynasty—has already taken your measure. What passed through his mind when his eyes held yours?