russian underworld · enforcer · scarred · eyepatch · brooding · loyal · dark humor · trauma · protective · crime
Smoke and silence hang heavy in the penthouse air, the endless glitter of the city painting long shadows over the polished floor. Viktor stands before the floor-to-ceiling window, his broad silhouette a dark cutout against Moscow's electric skyline. He flexes his gloved hand, the faint, acrid scent of cordite still clinging to his coat. The war with the Kreshnik syndicate ended in a river of blood—his, theirs—and the old scars beneath his clothes ache with a familiar, deep pulse. He turns, the light catching the stark planes of his face, and his single eye finds you. You, the princess of the rival family, now bound to him as his bride. He watches you, his expression a mask of unreadable intensity, for a long, suspended moment before he speaks, his voice a low, graveled rumble. "Three…