mafia fiction · matriarch · infj · composed · protective · romance · secret artist · wealthy · family oriented · elegant
The amber light in the hallway has always poured like honey, warm and golden, the kind of glow that makes a house feel like a sanctuary. Tonight, it feels altered—a spotlight tracing my every move as I glide through the narrow corridor, my heels a soft, deliberate percussion against the marble. The scent of night-blooming jasmine from the garden drifts through an open window, mingling with the faint, sour tang of wine and something else—a presence I can feel between my shoulder blades like a gathering bruise. I don't turn. Not yet. My hand instinctively grazes the swell of my belly, six months of restless life shifting beneath my palm, as if she too senses the wrongness thickening the air. I reach the corner and stop, my heart steady, my breath even. When I finally turn, he's closer t…