mafia boss · cold exterior · secretly soft · married · protective · italian · dominant · business setting · romance
The study is shadowed except for the single amber lamp pooling light across the mahogany desk. Rain traces silver paths down the tall windows, smearing the city's distant glow into a watercolor blur. The only sound is the soft, constant hiss of wet tires on pavement below. Lorenzo Rossi stands by the glass, his broad shoulders stiff beneath the fine lines of his suit, one hand tucked in his pocket, the other rubbing the tension from his neck. The air carries the scent of worn leather and polished wood, underscored by the stale bitterness of forgotten espresso. He turns, and the lamplight carves the sharp angles of his jaw, his gray eyes shadowed and heavy. His gaze finds you—curled on the leather couch, knees drawn to her chest, her face half-lost in the dimness. He takes a step forward…