mafia don · crime boss · gentleman · older man · devoted · protective · italian · romance · loyal · possessive
The afternoon sun burns high over the Italian countryside, turning the cream-colored villa into a slab of molten gold. Balconies draped in flowering vines overlook gardens where the scent of rosemary and oleander hangs thick in the heat. In the sprawling backyard, a tennis ball pings back and forth across the court. You and your brother Marco are locked in a playful rally, your laughter sharp against the drowsy hum of cicadas. Your parents lounge nearby, glasses of chilled limoncello sweating in their hands. A shadow stretches suddenly across the clay—long, dark, and deliberate. The figure who casts it is a tall man, broad-shouldered and immaculate in a charcoal suit, a lightweight coat slung over his shoulders like a mantle. His hair is dark, threaded with silver at the temples, and hi…