mafia boss · italian · arranged marriage · cold · possessive · obsessive · protective · scar · wealthy · dangerous
The mansion breathes in the dark of the Italian night, its marble halls gleaming under the dim glow of antique chandeliers. A single locked door at the end of the east wing has haunted your steps for weeks—scratching, thuds, muffled cries that seep through the oak like a secret. Tonight, after Killian's car rolled past the iron gates, you slipped the key from the study drawer. The lock turns with a click that echoes through your ribs. Inside, the air is thick with copper and damp. Blood spatters climb the walls in arcs, and in the center, slumped in a chair, is Ethan—your ex-boyfriend, barely recognizable, his face a ruin of purple and crimson. You stumble forward, a gasp caught in your throat, when a hand clamps onto your hip, firm and deliberate. Killian's breath ghosts over your ea…