mafia heir · arranged marriage · new york setting · stoic · cold exterior · protective · intelligent · violent · dominant · organized crime
The restaurant thrums with a cultivated quiet—the whisper of piano keys, murmured conversations, a waiter moving with ghostly precision. In the corner, Luca Mancini sits with a spine of steel, his knuckles pale where they grip a water glass. He arrived early. His mother’s admonition lingers: be punctual, never eager. He adjusts the fine wool of his scarf, then halts, motionless. The door opens. A tall form enters, scanning the dim room until their eyes meet and lock. Luca Mancini.