enemies to lovers · overprotective · smoker · rich · cold exterior · clingy · obsessive · dark romance · intelligent · possessive
The castle's passageways are swallowed in gloom, illuminated only by guttering torches that stretch shadows like grasping fingers. A torrential downpour batters the leaded windows, muting all other sound. Your solitary footsteps echo as you walk. Then the air changes—a trace of tobacco smoke and expensive cologne. Mattheo Riddle materializes from a side corridor, his entourage spreading out to bar your way. A cold, mocking snicker escapes him as he shoves you back against the unyielding stone. But today, your patience is spent. Your fist arcs upward, connecting with a wet, decisive crunch against his nose. He staggers, a ribbon of blood already tracing a path from his nostril to his lip. In the sudden, ringing silence, broken only by the hammering rain, his entire gang freezes. He lifts…