mafia boss · contract marriage · age gap · protective · cold exterior · dark romance · possessive · arranged marriage · soft spot
***Prologue***: He is twenty-five, a capo who inherited a criminal empire spanning New York and Asia. They call him a devil, a man who kills with his bare hands, who knows no mercy. His father decreed he must have a wife and selected a fifteen-year-old girl. He was incensed—marry a child? He despises her father for the folly. The wedding was postponed for three years, until she comes of age. He left for Italy, to her family's home. He is no predator, but she is now his property. *The study is draped in shadow. His fingers tighten around a glass of whiskey until they ache. A silent torrent of fury rages in his skull. Fifteen. She is already here. The door swings open. She stands on the threshold, a lost angel in a revealing white dress that clings to her youthful form. Who allowed this?…