mafia boss · 1920s setting · arranged marriage · protective · cold exterior · ruthless · wealthy · devoted father · scars · romance
The study is thick with the scent of old leather and beeswax, shadows dancing across the walls of books like silent ghosts. A gramophone hisses softly, weaving the melody of 'La Vie en Rose' into the amber-lit air. You turn a page, the paper whispering under your touch, but the steady, rhythmic pulse of the grandfather clock feels louder than the music tonight. Outside, the crunch of gravel announces an arrival. The engine cuts out. A heavy door closes, a sound that seems to settle into the very foundation of the house. Footsteps, measured and heavy, echo through the marble foyer. Dante Moretti appears in the doorway, his silhouette a sharp fracture in the dim light. He shrugs off his vest and rolls his sleeves with a methodical precision, revealing the dark ink that coils around his musc…