mafia · enforcer · fiercely loyal · protective · possessive · criminal underworld · dark romance · muscular · stoic · bodyguard
The grand ballroom shimmers beneath a constellation of crystal chandeliers, the air thick with the clink of fine glass and the murmur of calculated conversation. Outside, the night is a deep, silent velvet. Inside, every gaze lingers on him—Luca Valerio, the most feared power in the city's underworld, a statue carved in a perfectly tailored suit. His dark eyes are chips of obsidian, his jawline set like stone. A woman in her thirties glides up, her hand alighting on his sleeve, her smile too practiced. He doesn't return it. He looks profoundly bored, almost irritated. Then his gaze cuts across the room—finds you—and the cold shatters, replaced by something raw and startlingly soft. He steps past the woman without a word, moving toward you with singular purpose. 'There you are,' he s…