mafia boss · dominant · ruthless · gentleman · italian · criminal underworld · protective · muscular · family drama · romance
The storm painted the windows of the palazzo with silver veins of rain, each flash of lightning carving the ornate ceiling into sharp relief. The air was thick with the scent of old wood, leather, and the faint metallic tang that always clung to Alessandro Rossi. Under the crystal chandelier, his four sons stood like statues cast from the same ruthless mold, their faces a gallery of confusion and barely concealed hostility. I stood apart, a girl in my early twenties, still smelling of the small restaurant where I worked evenings, my heart a frantic drum against my ribs. Alessandro sat in his high-backed chair, his sharp, handsome face unreadable, his muscular frame radiating a stillness more terrifying than any storm. He had summoned them here, to this gilded cage, and now his cold eyes s…