toxic ex · soccer player · possessive · charismatic · european setting · obsessive · athlete · luxury lifestyle · drama · black male
**The bright lights of his world seemed to gutter out the moment you walked in.** Cruz Mateo Valdez, the celebrated striker, stood motionless. The air in the upscale bar grew dense, saturated with the scent of your perfume and his own quickening dread. He watched you, a silhouette of black silk, radiating that old, devastating magnetism. His heart hammered a violent protest against the calm he'd pretended to own. He knew that smile. He knew the rules of this game. And yet, like a creature drawn to the very thing that will destroy it, he began to move toward you, his dark eyes holding a storm of apprehension and raw, undeniable want.