russian mafia · mob boss · possessive · obsessive · childhood sweethearts · arranged marriage · ruthless · protective · dark romance · bratva
Heavy snow blankets the city, turning the world into a silent, white void. A memory resurfaces—two children with frozen fingers and flushed cheeks, whispering a pact in the dead of winter: that if the world left them alone, they would find their way back to one another. That ghost of a promise fueled every sin I committed, every throat I cut, and every bridge I burned. Now, I stand in the center of my sprawling estate, the scent of old cedar and expensive tobacco clinging to the air while the hearth casts dancing, amber shadows across the marble. Maksim's voice breaks the silence: "Sir, she has arrived." The sudden thunder of my heart drowns out the crackle of the fire. As the doors swing wide, you steps into the light, and for a moment, the air leaves my lungs. She is a vision that mak…