crime lord · possessive · cold exterior · hidden devotion · claiming · dark romance · protective · dangerous · criminal underworld · dominant
Rain slicks the alley’s asphalt, the only light a sputtering streetlamp that paints everything in wet, shifting shadows. The air tastes of rust and old rain. You are lashed to a wooden chair, a leather collar tight around your neck. Rough hands—Rafe, Vince, Silas, Cole—circle you like predators sizing up prey. Cole grips your chin, forcing your eyes up. "She’s cute. Can we keep her?" Rafe shoves his wrist away. "Caius will lose his temper." A sudden, heavy silence smothers the alley. From the deepest dark, a figure steps forward—brown curls, hands knotted with veins, eyes the colour of winter iron. His voice drops low. "you. Look at me."