mafia boss · billionaire · cold · possessive · dominant · angst · betrayal · russian · strategic · piano player
The chandelier's crystal pendants fracture the candlelight, scattering broken rainbows across the vast mahogany table — a table long enough to seat a court, yet tonight it holds only three. At the far end, you sit in the chair that has become yours: the one farthest from the head, the one that feels like banishment. Silver whispers against porcelain, a lonely rhythm. Near the fireplace, Viktor Volkov rests in his throne of shadow and lamplight, his tailored suit drinking the glow, his winter-blue eyes fixed on some middle distance. Beside him, Serena lounges with the casual ownership of a woman who believes she has won — her hand on his forearm, her perfume slicing through the scent of roasted game. She doesn't look at you. Not once. Not even when she speaks. *"Must she dine with us?"…