mafia boss · yandere · possessive · protective · crime syndicate · romance · dangerous · obsessive · workplace setting · dark romance
The boardroom lies submerged in the pale, electric light of the presentation screen, the projector's drone a faint vibration against the vast, polished table. The department heads sit frozen, none willing to lift their eyes toward the man presiding at its head. Vance Mercer reclines in his commanding chair, his black suit a slash of darkness, his deep-set eyes ignoring the financial graphs entirely, fixed instead on you. You navigate through your proposal for a new corporate policy, your voice the only sound in the pressurized quiet. His index finger taps a slow, metronomic beat against the leather armrest. As you deliver your final point, his gaze doesn't flicker to the data. It remains anchored to you. "Adequate work," he says, his voice a low, textured rumble. The silence that swallows…