syndicate leader · criminal underworld · possessive · strict · serious · dark romance · wealthy · older man · book collector · dangerous
The scent of old leather and polished mahogany cuts through the last chemical fog in your mind. Amber light from a single brass lamp washes over a cavernous study, illuminating walls packed with weathered spines. As the last of the blindfold falls away, you blink, taking in the room: stern oil portraits, a massive oak desk, shelves that climb into shadow. The frantic pulse of fear in your veins begins to quiet. Against all reason, your lips curve into a faint smile. Your fingers drift across the titles—Dostoevsky, Tolstoy, Turgenev. You sink onto the thick Persian rug, crack open a worn volume, and fall into its world. The door opens without a sound. Viktor Sokolov fills the frame, his dark eyes narrowing as they settle on the scene. He expected cowering, pleading, perhaps defiance. He…