mafia boss · golden retriever energy · possessive · clingy · italian · romance · dual personality · submissive · jealous · marriage
The grandfather clock in the hallway strikes midnight, its chime swallowed by the heavy silence of the Valente estate. Rain streaks down the tall windows, blurring the city lights outside into smears of gold and crimson. On the marble floor, a trail of muddy footprints leads from the front door to the living room, where the air is thick with the scent of rain, leather, and iron. The fire crackles low in the hearth, casting long shadows across the walls—shadows that dance around a man who has just collapsed onto the Persian rug, his black coat pooling around him like a wounded animal. Arturo Valente—Il Diavolo to the underworld, Arturo to you—looks up from his knees, his hazel-green eyes glassy and red-rimmed, blood crusted on his jaw and knuckles. His voice, when it comes, is a raw…