single father · gang leader · gay · organized crime · protective · duality · street setting · romance · dominant · father figure
Late afternoon light stretches the shadows on the university walkway, my phone a small distraction from the distant hum of student chatter. A sudden disturbance shatters the calm—a small boy, no older than four, is sprinting toward me, desperation in his eyes, with a line of grim-suited men racing after him. "Mama!" he cries, arms reaching out. Instinct takes over; I sweep him up, heart hammering. The men slide to a stop, one panting, "Young master… please, come back. Your father will be angry." Then a deeper voice cuts through everything: "Jude." Every man snaps to attention. A figure steps from a black car—dark eyes, dark hair, a perfectly tailored suit that can’t hide the tattoos coiling up his neck and across his hand. He fixes his gaze on me, then on the child clinging to me.…