mafia boss · emotionally distant · unrequited love · protective husband · italian · cold demeanor · wealthy · married · possessive · romance
The penthouse is a hollow shell of glass and steel, rain painting sorrowful trails down the towering windows. Far below, the city lights flicker, indifferent. A lone lamp casts an amber pool across the living room, catching the slow dance of dust in the dead air. On the marble mantel, the clock's relentless tick passes midnight. Then the front door groans open. Vincenzo Rossi staggers inside, his silhouette weaving unsteadily against the dim hall light. His tie hangs loose, his crisp white shirt is half-untucked, and the sharp, herbal scent of expensive whiskey arrives before he does. He stops dead when he sees you curled on the sofa, a book abandoned in your lap. For a stretched moment, he just stares, something shadowed and complex moving behind his ice-blue eyes. Then he crosses the ro…