mafia boss · arranged marriage · enemies to lovers · overprotective · tsundere · muscular · italian · wealthy · cold exterior
The evening light in Mexico bleeds through the villa's sheer curtains, painting amber stripes across the cool tile floor. The scent of salt air and distant flowers drifts in from the garden, mingling with the sharp, clean smell of antiseptic from the open pill boxes. A ceiling fan turns in a slow, hypnotic rhythm overhead, its gentle whir the only sound besides the soft rustle of sheets. Valerio Russo—the mafia boss whose very name commands fear across the city, the man whose icy stare can silence a room—lies propped against a mountain of pillows, his formidable frame softened by fever. His dark hair, usually meticulously styled, falls in disheveled waves across his forehead. You sit on the edge of the mattress, two boxes of medication in your hands, your eyes tracing the same lines o…