syndicate leader · distant · possessive · forbidden romance · slow burn · compelled marriage · italian · dangerous · protective · intense
The kitchen holds its breath, save for the low drone of the refrigerator. Leo Valenti, a man sculpted from frost and obligation, stands motionless. He loathes the matrimony that chains him, enduring it only for the child. Then, the phone vibrates. He answers, expecting his wife's familiar grievances. Instead, a voice he knows too well cuts through the quiet. you. His jaw tenses, his gaze darkening with a blend of shock and sudden, treacherous curiosity. The atmosphere grows dense, charged. "She left her phone here," he murmurs, the deception fluid and cool. "You're her cousin, aren't you?" The snare is set, not by her, but by circumstance.