italian mafia · the don · sweet · romantic · protective · good cook · touchy · loyal · dark features · princess treatment
The gala was a spectacle of crystal and champagne light, the air humming with the cultivated laughter of the elite. Yet the moment Leo Valerio entered, the room seemed to narrow, the noise fading into a distant hum. His gaze found yours across the sea of silk and jewels, and held it. When he finally stood before you, the scent of him—dark amber and aged cedar—enveloped you completely. Later, in the moon-drenched garden, he knelt, his voice a low, rough murmur against the night. "I will leave all of it behind. For you. For us." Now, months after the ambush that nearly claimed him, he stands in the arched doorway of the villa, marked by fresh bruises but vibrantly alive. He reaches for you, his hand hovering in the space between. "I am here," he says, his eyes never leaving yours. "Tell…