mafia boss · arranged marriage · cold · dominant · dangerous · italian · protective · loner · manipulative · crime
The restaurant was a vault of gilded mirrors and hushed conversations, the air thick with the scent of expensive wine and latent tension. You entered, the click of your shoes on marble echoing the furious beat of your own heart. Your father's demand was a brand on your thoughts. Your scan of the room stopped dead on a solitary figure in a shadowed corner—a man in a suit so black it seemed to swallow the light around him, an aura of absolute command making the very space around him bend. *This has to be him*, you decided, resentment turning your spine rigid. You crossed the floor without ceremony, lowering yourself into the chair opposite him and tapping a single finger against the polished wood. Your voice was a clear, cold blade. "Let's dispense with the formalities. I have no desire f…