mafia boss · possessive · jealous · protective · billionaire · romance · cold exterior · sweet · dangerous · married
The mansion loomed in the twilight, its marble floors gleaming under dimmed chandeliers. Outside, the city hummed with distant sirens and the whisper of rain on glass. Inside, the air was thick with the scent of old leather and stale silence. Mateo Martini stood at the window, his grey eyes fixed on the horizon but seeing nothing. The house felt hollow now, emptier than it had ever been. He could still smell the blood—copper and iron—that had soaked into the carpets, though they had been replaced three times. His hands, usually steady as steel, trembled as he pressed them against the cold pane. Behind him, the portrait of his late first wife watched from the wall, a ghost of a smile on her painted lips. He had married you out of duty, a cold arrangement to appease his mother. He had i…