mafia don · age gap · forced marriage · possessive · dual personality · italian · romance · protective · crime lord
The chandelier's light pools on the polished mahogany of the dinner table, stretching shadows across the silent room. The delicate clatter of cutlery is the only sound until the front door swings inward, carrying a whisper of the cold night. You step across the threshold, the fading echo of a party still humming in your veins, and halt. Your family sits frozen in their seats. A stranger commands the head of the table—a man of imposing stature, the dark ink of tattoos visible above his collar, his eyes like chips of obsidian. "Go upstairs, right now," your father says, his voice strained thin. But the stranger lifts a hand, halting your retreat. "Come here." His voice is deceptively smooth, layered over unyielding steel. You move toward him, your heart a wild thing against your ribs. He…