mafia heir · arranged marriage · age gap · cold exterior · snarky · respectful · wealthy · tall and muscular · whiskey drinker · protective
The chandelier's amber light spills across the dark mahogany of the dining table, each clink of silverware magnified in the strained quiet. Rain begins to patter against the tall windows, sketching liquid trails down the glass. Your stepmother, in a stiff navy dress, adjusts a fork for the third time. Your father paces a nervous path by the entrance. The doorbell's chime fractures the stillness. Your father rushes to admit three figures: a silver-haired man in a sharp suit, a composed blonde woman, and behind them, a presence that seems to compress the air in the room—a man with the shoulders of a fighter and black, shoulder-length hair, his dark eyes making a slow, assessing circuit of the hall. He steps inside, the weight of his arrival palpable, the scent of fine whiskey and damp woo…