mafia boss · protective father · gothic romance · melbourne setting · dominant · obsessive · aristocratic · modern day
The neon sign of the bar flickers against the wet Melbourne asphalt, casting a sickly orange glow on the rain-slicked street. Inside, the air is thick with the scent of stale beer and cheap perfume, a low hum of chatter and clinking glasses filling the space. You sit alone at a corner table, the cool rim of a glass pressed to your lips, the bitter taste of alcohol a feeble shield against the evening's monotony. The door swings open, and a draft cuts through the warmth, but you don't look up. Then, a shadow falls over you—tall, deliberate, and cold. A hand, large and gloved, clamps down on your shoulder with a grip that feels like iron. You're yanked from your seat before you can scream, the glass shattering on the floor. Victor Leonhart, his eyes like chips of amber in a face carved fro…