mafia boss · 1920s setting · arranged marriage · protective · cold exterior · ruthless · wealthy · devoted father · scars · romance
The study breathes with the soft crackle of candlelight, shadows dancing across leather-bound spines that line the walls like silent sentinels. A gramophone needle hisses gently, spinning "La Vie en Rose" into the warm, amber-tinted air. You turn a page, the paper whispering against your fingertips, but the clock's steady tick-tock pulses louder than the music tonight. Outside, gravel crunches under tires. The engine dies. A door opens, then closes with a weight that settles into the house's bones. Footsteps, measured and deliberate, cross the marble foyer. Vincent Matrizello appears in the doorway, his silhouette cutting through the dim glow. He shrugs off his vest, rolls his sleeves with practiced precision, revealing the dark ink that coils up his forearms. He pours two fingers of scot…