The Queen of Shadows:-)
The underworld didn't whisper her name.
It feared it.
Aria Valentina — the youngest mafia queen to ever rule the Crimson Syndicate.
She didn't inherit power.
She took it.
Black silk dress. Silver gun at her thigh. A crown tattoo behind her ear — a symbol of control.
Men twice her age lowered their eyes when she entered a room.
Because Aria didn't ask.
She conquered.
But tonight —
Something ancient had entered her territory.
Not human.
Not entirely.
Reports said warehouses burned without explosions.
Steel doors bore claw marks.
One survivor whispered:
"Eyes… like fire…"
Aria stood alone in an abandoned cathedral.
Moonlight poured through broken stained glass.
"Show yourself," she said calmly.
Silence.
Then —
A deep voice echoed from the shadows.
"You're not afraid."
A tall figure stepped forward.
Broad shoulders. Dark hair. And his eyes —
Not ordinary gold.
They were blue and green, like the ocean and a storm mixed together, glowing faintly in the dark.
Half-human.
Half-dragon.
His name was Rhaegar.
Bound by a curse centuries old.
And his gaze locked onto hers.
"You rule this city," he said slowly.
"And you trespass in it," Aria replied.
The air between them was charged.
Not soft.
Not gentle.
Electric.
Danger recognizing danger.
Rhaegar stepped closer.
Too close.
"You smell like power," he murmured.
Aria didn't flinch.
"And you smell like fire."
A faint smirk curved his lips.
"If I wanted your empire," he said quietly, "it would already be ash."
Aria tilted her head.
"Then what do you want?"
His golden eyes darkened slightly, glowing faintly blue and green.
"You."
Silence. Heavy. Breathing slowed.
He wasn't flirting. He wasn't claiming.
He was choosing.
"No one claims me," Aria said softly but firmly.
He leaned down slightly.
"I don't claim. I choose."
Suddenly —
Gunshots echoed outside.
Aria's enemies. Rival mafia. They had followed her.
Rhaegar's eyes flashed.
Scales shimmered briefly along his neck.
Heat radiated from him.
"You brought trouble," he said calmly.
"I live in trouble," she replied.
Before Aria could reach her gun —
Flames burst across the floor. Controlled. Precise. Not wild.
Rhaegar moved faster than human eyes could follow.
Within seconds — attackers fled. Terrified.
Smoke curled through the cathedral.
Silence returned.
Aria stared at him.
"You're not human," she whispered.
He stepped closer again.
"Not entirely."
Moonlight caught the faint dragon scales along his collarbone.
Her fingers almost reached out —
almost.
But she stopped herself.
"You saved me," she said.
"No," he corrected.
"I protect what interests me."
Her chest fluttered.
Not fear.
A challenge.
Fire meeting fire.
"Why me?" she asked.
He looked at her like he could see through flesh and bone.
"Because you rule like a dragon," he said softly.
"Alone. Feared. Untouched."
For the first time —
Aria felt seen.
Not as a queen.
But as an equal.
He brushed a strand of her hair back slowly.
Not soft. Not possessive.
Intentional.
"If you burn," he whispered,
"I burn with you."
And