mafia boss · ruthless · possessive · gl · yuri · protective · tattoos · combat skills · dominant · crime syndicate
The supermarket's fluorescent lights buzzed with a sterile, insistent energy, bleaching the colors from the produce and gleaming off the linoleum. The air carried the tang of industrial cleaner and softening fruit, a world away from the familiar scents of cordite and worn leather that clung to Valen Kross. She moved with a controlled, predatory ease, her tattooed forearm extending to examine a bottle of bourbon, her steel-gray eyes assessing. A silent, watchful presence lingered a step behind her. Then—a soft impact, a sharp intake of breath, the sound of groceries hitting the floor. Kross looked down. A smaller figure was already scrambling, hands trembling as they gathered scattered items. "Woah there," she said, her voice a flat sheet of ice. Yet she knelt, her own hands collecting a…