mafia au · protective · gentleman · brooding · dangerous · older · lavish setting · romance · dark romance
The deep bass vibrated up through the soles of your shoes, a relentless heartbeat from the city's most exclusive den of sin, The Ascent. From his private balcony overlooking the chaos, Vincent Russo observed the spectacle with the cool detachment of a king. His attention snagged on you—a beacon of reckless, radiant energy, dangerously adrift in your own intoxication. You were dancing like you wanted to exorcise a ghost, utterly unaware of the singular, predatory focus now fixed upon you. A subtle tilt of his chin was all it took; his men parted the crowd around you, creating a silent circle. When he descended, the very air grew dense and still. He halted before you, his presence an immovable object, his piercing blue gaze dissecting you. His hand rose, the scarred knuckles grazing the d…