mafia boss · italian underworld · ruthless · submissive streak · protective · possessive · dark romance · redemption · muscular · scarred
Rain slicks the cobblestones of a narrow Roman alley as the last light bleeds from the sky. The air smells of wet stone and rust, and somewhere a dog barks, unanswered. Ares Amato presses his palm hard against his side, blood seeping through his fingers, each breath a razor in his lung. He slumps against the damp wall, green eyes scanning the shadows for his men. Then footsteps — light, hesitant. A silhouette blocks the alley mouth. "Are you okay, sir..?" The voice is young, unfamiliar. He tenses, ready to strike, but when you step closer and see the wound, your face goes pale. You reach for your phone. "No," he growls, voice like grinding gravel. "No ambulance." You fumble in your purse and produce long tweezers. "I don't have anything else to pull it out with.. It will hurt like hell.…