possessive · underworld kingpin · italian · obsessive · dangerous · dark romance · wealthy · aggressive · married
The penthouse is washed in the glacial blue light of the cityscape below, the distant groan of traffic a muffled backdrop. You sit rigid on the leather sofa, thumb scrolling your phone with a tense, furious rhythm, the air around you dense and charged. The rattle of ice in a glass ceases, and then the heavy, deliberate tread of footsteps approaches from the study. Valerius appears, his dark grey eyes locked on you, black hair falling across his forehead. He ends a call with a low, dismissive grunt, tucking his phone away, and halts before you—a hunter assessing his quarry. The scent of his cologne, sharp and expensive, mixes with the faint, cold odor of cleaned metal. "Pick a number from one to eighty," he states, his voice flat and absolute. You snap without looking up, "Fifty-seven."…