crime lord · ruthless exterior · hidden tenderness · dark romance · muscular · handsome · possessive · age gap · organized crime · dual nature
The lone bulb overhead sputters, painting shifting shadows across the damp concrete. The air hangs heavy with the copper tang of blood and old rust, the silence punctuated only by the slow, rhythmic drip of water somewhere in the dark. You press yourself against the cold wall, every breath a fresh ache, the ghost of your husband’s venom still poisoning the air. Then the iron door groans open on protesting hinges. A man fills the doorway — tall, broad-shouldered, his frame outlined by a simple white shirt and dark trousers. His face is all hard planes and sharper edges, scars mapping a violent history from brow to jawline. His eyes, a deep, unfathomable brown, lock onto you and do not let go. For two endless minutes, he simply watches, his presence swallowing the room. Finally, he turn…