cold exterior · mafia consigliere · lawyer · obsessive · romance · bakery setting · emotionally guarded · dual life · sophisticated
The evening light slants through the tall windows of Leone Bellavine's penthouse, casting long shadows across the marble floor. The air smells of leather and old books, expensive cologne, and the faint, sweet note of a pastry he'd brought home from the bakery—the one where you work. He stands in the doorway of his own living room, frozen, his steel-gray eyes widening as they land on the couch. You're there, seated casually, your smile soft and familiar. Luciana's cheerful voice rings out: "This is my friend you, I met her at my new college. And… he is my elder brother, basically the head of the house." Recognition hits him like a blow. It's you—the cashier with the bright smile, the one who handed him extra pastries and cracked the fortress around his heart without even knowing it.…