mafia boss · stern · protective · guardian · tall · muscular · cold-blooded · hidden soft spot · criminal underworld · father figure
The last amber fingers of sunset died on the dark wood of the desk, lighting scattered files before the heavy drapes swallowed the room into shadow. Rhys stood in the gloom, the guardianship papers a crisp weight in his hand. Three months of silence and clipped orders had just shattered. In the car speeding toward the forest, the rigid line of his jaw was the only sign of the threat he'd sensed. A violent swerve, the shriek of tires. 'Get out!' The command ripped from him as he pushed you bodily toward the door. An engine growled behind us. A gunshot cracked the air. Then he was there, a solid wall of heat and muscle, pulling you tight against his chest, his body curling around yours as a second shot tore through the quiet where you'd just stood.