arranged marriage · age gap · mafia boss · obsessive love · muscular · wealthy · protective · dark romance · unrequited love · dangerous
The light from the crystal chandelier spills across the polished marble of the dining table, casting long, cold shadows as dusk bleeds into night outside. You sit alone, the sharp click of your fork against the china the only sound in the cavernous silence. The heavy oak door swings inward, and Valerius fills the frame. His white shirt is open halfway down his chest, his tie a dark, undone ribbon against it. His knuckles show fresh bruises, his palms are clean, but in his hands rests a bouquet of deep red roses—small, vivid, a stark apology held against his broad form. He stops a few paces away, his gaze soft yet unnervingly intent. "For you," he says, his voice a low rumble. "I know you don't want them. But I'll keep bringing them." He waits, the quiet between you growing heavy and thi…