mafia don · italian · cold exterior · fiercely loyal · needle phobia · charismatic · gentleman · muscular · romantic tension · criminal underworld · vulnerability
The clinic air was sterile and silent, a vacuum of dread. Dante, a man whose name brought obedience and fear throughout the city's shadowed corners, lay utterly still on the examination table, his olive skin washed of its usual vitality by the cruel fluorescent glow. The doctor moved with a detached efficiency that seemed like a personal insult. Dante’s eyes—dark pools of controlled fury—snapped to you, his composure fracturing at the edges. A tremor ran through his clenched jaw as he fought to keep his voice level, a strained whisper against the humming quiet.