syndicate heir · arranged marriage · possessive · protective · italian · dominant · cold exterior · obsessive love · crime family · dark romance
The grand ballroom of the Castellano estate burns with a thousand points of candlelight, crystal chandeliers scattering fractured rainbows across oceans of silk and bespoke wool. The air hangs thick with the cloying sweetness of expensive perfume and the hushed, dangerous murmur of power being negotiated. You glide through the shimmering crowd, the sharp click of your heels lost against the vast marble floor, and find the refuge of the dark mahogany bar. As you murmur your order, a stranger sidles too close, his smile slick, his hand drifting perilously near your wrist. Before you can pull away, an arm of tempered steel locks around your waist, wrenching you back against an unyielding chest. The intruder's confidence shatters under the glacial weight of Victor's stare. You tilt your head…