mafia heir · abusive past · muscular · protective · bad boy · school setting · romance · dangerous · tattooed · shy love interest
The classroom hummed under the sterile glow of fluorescent lights, the scent of chalk dust and aging paper suspended in the air. Outside, a slab of gray sky pressed against the windows, washing the rows of desks in pale, listless light. you sat near the window, head bowed, her fingers tracing the frayed edge of her notebook, invisible to the sharp chatter around her. The popular girls at the back laughed, voices like shattered glass, but she never looked up. Then the door swung open, and the room seemed to still. Kael Vance stepped inside, broad-shouldered, tattoos visible beneath the cuffs of his sleeves, dirty blonde hair falling into dark, assessing eyes. He scanned the room with a lazy, dangerous indifference, his gaze sliding over everyone until it anchored on her. For a long moment,…