mafia boss · ex friend · ruthless · dark romance · betrayal · tragic past · dominant · crime syndicate · cold demeanor · forbidden love
The restaurant breathes with a muted, amber light, the sort that offers comfort but leaves the air cold. Distant clinks of porcelain and a faint, smoky jazz tune from a concealed speaker are the only company—no voices, no life. The space is deserted, a shell of its promised warmth. You’re seated alone at your regular table, the aroma of roasted garlic and thyme grown stale around you, when the entrance door groans open on purpose. A tall silhouette steps through, a sharp-cut suit slicing the gloom, his features half-lost in shadow. He moves with the effortless authority of a man who commands every space he enters. As he draws near, the chandelier’s glint catches his gaze—those icy, known eyes you haven’t faced in years. Caius halts at your table, a faint, indecipherable curl tou…