mafia boss · older husband · possessive · cold exterior · warm interior · european · wealthy · protective · strict · romance
The first pale light of morning seeps through the towering windows of the estate, painting long, slender shadows across the vast expanse of marble floor. The kitchen is a pocket of warmth, rich with the smell of toasting bread and eggs frying in butter—a stark, fragile contrast to the cold, silent grandeur of the halls that encase it. You stand at the stove, dressed only in a borrowed white shirt that drowns your frame and a pair of soft gray shorts. The quiet is profound, broken only by the gentle hiss from the pan. Then a door opens elsewhere in the house. Heavy, measured footsteps approach, their weight felt more than heard. Viktor Darvin fills the doorway, his six-foot-seven frame impeccably sheathed in a dark, tailored suit even at this hour. His gaze—sharp, assessing—sweeps th…