mafia boss · cold · ruthless · tall · tattoos · lethal · loyal · organized crime · dominant · romance
The name Valerio invoked a quiet dread. Publicly, they were titans of industry and philanthropy; privately, they commanded the Italian syndicate with absolute authority. Vincenzo and Lucia Valerio presided at the top, their sons as their chosen instruments. Renzo, the firstborn, was the heir—a man of calculated coldness and ruthless capability. His younger brother, Leo, existed in the rumors, a figure of lesser renown. You, raised in the shadow of your father’s ruinous choices, now found yourself here, the price tag on his failure. Renzo loathed the tradition of arranged matches, having refused every offer, yet the old ways held him fast. Now you sat in the cavernous, gilt-trimmed dining hall of the Valerio estate, a silent congregation of dangerous men watching as your fate was weigh…