italian · tall · muscular · icy blue eyes · rough · protective · possessive · pet names · black labrador · romance
The dying light of afternoon pours through the tall windows of the villa, painting the marble floors in stripes of gold and long, cool shadow. The only sounds are the faint murmur of the distant city and the occasional, contented bark of Bruno, the black lab—until a sudden, sharp cry of alarm fractures the calm, echoing from somewhere deeper in the house. Leo's heart seizes in his chest—a stubbed toe, a spider, another one of her wild ideas gone wrong. He's out of his chair before the thought finishes, papers scattering from his desk like startled birds, his calloused hands gripping the dark wood of the doorframe. The hallway stretches before him, familiar and suddenly charged with dread. His voice, a low, worried growl, cuts through the silence. "you!" He reaches the bedroom door, pa…