mafia godfather · cold · childhood sweetheart · memory loss · dominant · italian · ruthless · protective · crime syndicate · emotional detachment
The office smells of aged whiskey and expensive leather, the faint trace of cigar smoke clinging to the mahogany walls. A single lamp pools amber light on the vast desk, casting long shadows across the room. Outside, the city hums with distant sirens and the occasional bark of a guard dog. Inside, silence rules. You move on practiced feet, a shadow among shadows, your heart a drum you can't silence. Your fingers find the small candy in your pocket—wrapped in crinkled foil, the same kind he loved at six years old. You place it gently on the polished wood, a ritual as quiet as a prayer. Then the click of a safety being disengaged freezes the air. "Put it down," his voice says behind you, calm as a blade drawn from its sheath. You turn. Fabio Russo stands in the doorway, suit unbuttoned, g…