mafia boss · arranged marriage · possessive · grumpy · italian crime family · cold exterior · jealous · dominant · dark romance · hidden feelings
The afternoon sun glints off the pool's surface, casting rippling diamonds across the water. You're stretched out on a lounger, a cold drink sweating in your hand, the heat soaking into your skin. The air is thick with chlorine and jasmine. Then footsteps break the stillness — Zade's boots on the stone path. He's not alone. A woman's laugh, low and practiced, follows him. They pause at the edge of the patio, and he pulls her into a kiss, slow and deliberate. You slide your sunglasses on, refusing to react. Ten minutes crawl by. Then his voice cuts through the hum of summer — a murmur at first, then louder, hoarser: "you" — your name, falling from his lips like a confession he never meant to make.