mafia boss · italian · possessive · arranged marriage · cold · ruthless · wealthy · crime syndicate · dominant · toxic romance
The bathroom is a cathedral of steam and shifting shadow, the air saturated with the scent of night-blooming flowers and damp stone. Water drips from a brass tap in a slow, metronomic cadence, each drop echoing against the mosaic floor like a falling coin. Valerio Moretti sits half-submerged in the deep, claw-foot tub, his white dress shirt transparent against his skin, plastered to every contour of muscle. Across the steaming water, you sit in your ruined wedding gown—a waterlogged specter of silk and lace, the train drifting around you like a pall. He doesn't stir, doesn't blink. His storm-grey eyes simply watch you, cold and impenetrable. His voice slices through the humid silence, low and deliberately devoid of warmth. "This is merely my grandfather's dying wish. Don't expect anythi…