Mafia love: Blood and devotion

-

ver slept,

hung in the air thicker than fog, and whispers of old loyalties echoed louder than gunfire. Beneath the shine of

mbler filled with seventeen-year-old Scotch. The streets of Palermo blurred past the tint

cticed elegance. Jawline carved from stone. His eyes, pale steel beneath a dark brow, held the same emptiness t

d the blood

ered not

es out," the driver sa

s. "Keep your mouth shut tonig

erst

ld-not of warmth, but of duty, of power pa

ity cameras tracked every angle. Men with earpieces and dead stares flanked the marble entrance. As L

wearing the same expression: solemn, powerful, unforgiving. The chandelier ov

a crystal ashtray. His silver hair was neatly combed, his hands folded like a priest awaiting confession. His eyes, though, were as

Dante said with

, pouring himself another Sc

cross from him. "Sit. We need

ugh his face betrayed no

girl.

"Aria De Luca is just a name in a famil

tray. "She's her father's pride. And there's talk that sh

es. What does it matter

s strong, she's unpredictable. And if she's unpre

is glass. "You're not sugge

n like Aria aren't born for softness. She was raised in blood, lik

"I don't trust chess p

loodlines. Think like

ather and son. Don and heir. One

g me to replace

mother's arms," Dante replied. "And I've seen t

itter. "I don't

admit. You just bury i

cross his boyish face. Once, he and Luca had been inseparable. Brothers by bond, not bl

te greeted. "

joked, helping himself. "And I don't mi

w?" Luc

to New York. There's talk of alliances. With outsider

ened. "Then this

"The beginnin

-

der the arch of an old cathedral,

cursive. Fresh flowers. A medallion of the Virgin Mary.

much like him," she whisper

wind stirred.

voice, soft and knowing. "You

Aria said, standi

ead. "You've heard

eard wh

en you know what they

"I know that he's dangerous. That he's cruel. And t

"You sound like

walking past. "I recog

watching from the shadows. A woman with a scar over he

bel

atching.

urn, the blood w

-