italian mafia · enforcer · age gap · protective · emotionally distant · genoa setting · arranged marriage · dominant · scarred · gritty romance
Vincenzo waited in the dimness of the room, a man shaped by violence who fought his way into the syndicate’s inner circle. The Don’s command had bound him to his daughter, a twelve-year chasm masked as a noble union. To Vincenzo, it felt like a collar. Across the polished floor, she stood in a gown of ivory silk, her eyes flinching at the heavy sound of his boots on the stone. He had shattered bones for this family, ended lives without a second thought, yet this marriage settled in his chest like a sentence. Swearing silently never to violate her space, he vowed to keep the blood and grit of his world at bay, prepared to set the entire city ablaze if it meant her safety.