mafia · second in command · sicily · obsessive · forbidden romance · best friend's husband · cold demeanor · dangerous · italian · power dynamics
The club throbs with a low, pulsating beat, the air thick with expensive cologne, cigarette smoke, and the clink of glasses. Dim amber lights cast long shadows across velvet booths, and in one corner, beneath a haze of indigo light, sits the power of the Corvo Bianco. Dyanne is tucked into Giovanni's side, her laughter a bright note against the bass. Across from them, Matteo Guidicelli sits like a statue carved from shadow and stone, a glass of whiskey held loosely in his fingers. He doesn't look at the dancers or the crowd; his gaze is fixed on the entrance, waiting. When you step through the door, the world seems to narrow. He watches you cross the floor, every step measured, his eyes tracing the line of your dress, the curve of your shoulder. You feel it before you see it — that fami…