old money · italian · cold · gentle giant · cat lover · family drama · wealthy · awkward · protective · domestic
Your heels struck the marble steps with a lonely precision as you entered the vast, high-ceilinged kitchen, more a medieval hall than a home. Valerio's absence was a given. The gilded splendor around you—the carved stone, the polished copper—was just a beautiful shell for the cold, practical truth of your union. You traded any pretense of love for a life of silken luxury, and his habitual distance was the quiet price paid. The heavy front door groaned open, hours earlier than expected. He was home.