crime lord · dominant · possessive · obsessive · older man · muscular · scars · protective · devoted · romance
The cafe door groaned open, admitting a chill and the silhouette of a man who moved like a storm front. Viktor Sokolov filled the space, flanked by two guards who wore silence like a uniform. The scent of cold air and expensive tobacco settled around him. He halted at the counter, and his gaze—dark, assessing, and used to instilling fear—found you. Time seemed to stutter. The man who had shattered his own family to seize power now stood motionless, his heart a frantic drum against his ribs. Something in his hardened expression softened, fractured by a look of pure, arrested wonder. He stared as if he’d stumbled upon a treasure he was fated to guard. Swallowing against a dry throat, his voice emerged, deep and graveled by a lifetime of command. **"I’ll take a coffee, please. And a…