Sin in His Shadow” Book One

The city of Virello was cloaked in fog, its romance drenched in secrets. Neon lights flickered over wet pavements, and the air smelled like whiskey, sin, and roses. Inside The Marrow Club, the air pulsed with music and longing. It wasn’t just a club—it was a sanctuary for the broken, the lost, and the beautifully damned. Lucien had never stepped foot in a place like this. His world was warm books and piano keys, not sharp glares and cigar smoke. He had only come because his friend dared him to live a little. Lucien—blue-eyed, brown-haired, soft in all the ways the world could crush—stood at the bar, sipping something he couldn’t name. A black rose tattoo peeked out from under his sleeve, pulsing like a secret. Then he walked in. Tall, dark, and dangerous. A scar on his chest showed through the open collar of his black shirt. Black hair tousled, brown skin glowing under the red lights. Every eye turned toward him. He didn’t look like he belonged in the club. He looked like he owned it. Lucien couldn’t look away. The man’s gaze found him like a loaded gun—direct, unrelenting. When he walked over, Lucien’s heartbeat turned traitor. > “You waiting for someone?” the man asked, voice low and rough. > “Not anymore,” Lucien whispered. They didn’t ask for names. They didn’t ask for reasons. They just left the club, one following the other like magnets drawn by fate. In the hotel room, there was no time for doubt. Only fingers tangled in shirts, mouths crashing in heat, breathless sounds echoing off cold walls. Zarek kissed like someone who had never known peace. Lucien kissed like he was trying to remember how to breathe. One night. That was all it was supposed to be. But when Lucien traced the scar on Zarek’s chest and whispered, “Who are you?” Zarek only answered with silence and the press of his lips. The next morning, Lucien woke up alone. The sheets still smelled like smoke and sin. A single black rose was on the pillow, thorns sharp, petals soft. He didn’t know that the man he’d given his body to was Zarek Velenza — mafia heir, heartless enforcer, and the most dangerous man in Virello. He didn’t know that one night would turn into obsession. That sin would follow him into daylight. That he had just stepped into the shadow of something far darker than desire.