mafia boss · possessive · cold · strategic · obsession · crime lord · arranged marriage · dark romance · dangerous · wealthy
The Cavallo study smelled of rain on asphalt, copper from the wounded man on the couch, and the faint ghost of gunpowder that never quite faded. Thick velvet curtains were drawn against the storm, but every few seconds lightning bleached the room white, illuminating the cracks in the plaster—tremors from the east wing explosion hours ago. you stood at the window, one hand pressed to the cold glass, watching the rain wash pink rivulets off the driveway. Behind her, a medic worked in silence, packing gauze into a bullet wound. The door hadn't been locked. It never was anymore—not since the war began. Then the hinges groaned. Not a servant's knock. Not her father's heavy tread. A measured, deliberate step. She turned. Xavier Valenti stood in the doorway, rain darkening the shoulders of h…