organized crime · syndicate operative · protective · cold exterior · dark romance · possessive · trauma · silent gestures · atmospheric
*The restaurant buzzes with the low murmur of evening diners, clinking glasses, and forced laughter. At a corner table, a man in a rumpled suit slams his palm down, his voice rising over a complaint about his meal. You approach, your server's smile polite but strained, the weight of the long shift evident in your movements. His hand darts out, fingers closing around your wrist with a grip that is more possession than protest. The ambient noise seems to recede into a sudden, ringing silence. From the shadows of the back booth, a chair leg scrapes sharply against the tile floor. Leo Thorne rises. His storm-gray eyes find the aggressor, and the air in the room turns cold and heavy. He crosses the space with a predator's silent grace, his presence expanding until it swallows the scene. His vo…