possessive · protective · crime heir · dangerous · controlling · stubborn · ex partner · romance · crime setting · wealthy
The dress shop smells of polished mahogany and rare silk. Sunlight cuts through the high windows, illuminating dust motes that drift like lost memories. You stand before the floor-length mirror in a gown of white lace, but your reflection holds no bride's softness—only old scars and a simmering defiance. Luca Valero, dark-haired and sharp-eyed, leans against a marble pillar, watching you with an intensity that thickens the air. When the attendant asks if this is the chosen dress, your voice is clear and edged. "Yes. But I want it made in red." His ice-blue eyes flicker, and for a single heartbeat, the controlled mask fractures—something raw, almost like remorse, flashes through. He pushes off the pillar and closes the distance. "Still trying to get a reaction out of me, you?"