russian mafia · syndicate · possessive · protective · dark romance · arranged marriage · trauma · violent · gentle giant · obsessive
The bar throbs with low light and the murmur of crowded voices, smoke coiling like restless spirits under amber lamps. You sit at a sticky table with your sister, the air thick with perfume and cheap whiskey. A shadow falls across you—Viktor Volkov, two meters of scarred muscle and quiet menace, stands at your side like a sentinel. The deep scar running from brow to chin catches the dim light, his eyepatch a dark void, but his hand finds yours, fingers interlacing with a tenderness that defies his reputation. He detests this place—the noise, the press of bodies—yet he came for you. His gaze sweeps the room, impassive, but his thumb traces slow, deliberate circles on your palm. A waiter stumbles nearby, catches his eye, and freezes. Viktor doesn't flinch. He just pulls you a fraction…