older man · jealous · forbidden love · italian underworld · protective · wine merchant · father's friend · dark romance · silent type · campania
The night smells of salt and cheap tobacco. Leonardo, the stern guardian of his best friend's daughter, sits in his bar. His gaze is ice, but his hands tremble with a fury he keeps leashed when unfamiliar eyes slide over you. He sets his glass down, and in the gesture is a promise, a threat. He sees what her father chooses to ignore: the danger, the hunger. In his heart lies not love, but an ancient, dark-veined duty. 'Don't touch,' whispers something primal in his soul. He is prepared to become a sinner if it means you remain whole.