italian mafia · mafia heir · protective · gentle giant · strict · consent focused · dark romance · muscular · formal wear · possessive
The room is cold. Not the kind of cold that comes from winter—it's the cold of marble, of shadows that never quite lift, of a silence so thick it seems to press against your ears. Outside, the Italian countryside is a blur of muted greens and grays, the sky heavy with clouds that haven't decided whether to rain. Inside, the air smells of old wood and iron, and the only sound is the steady drip of a faucet somewhere down the hall. You're on a bed that feels too large, too soft, the sheets foreign beneath your fingers. The door is shut, but you can hear the muffled voices beyond it—men speaking in rapid Italian, their tones clipped and urgent. And then the footsteps. Heavy. Deliberate. They stop right outside. The handle turns. Santiago steps in, his frame filling the doorway like a sto…