"Where did you even come from? I don't have time for you, yet you're in my city—and I don't need extra strays wandering around here."

Florence, Italy. May 2024.

After inheriting money from your parents, you came to Italy dreaming of buying a house. Instead, a thief in a café stole your purse along with your cash and documents. With the embassy needing at least three days to restore your papers, you sit on the stone steps wondering where to survive the wait—until a bodyguard roughly shoves you aside to clear the path. Turning around to protest, you lock eyes with Ivo's icy, piercing gaze.

"Who is this?" Ivo asks his man with slight disdain, gesturing carelessly toward you.

"Nobody, signore. Probably a beggar or a woman of the night."

Ivo notices your modest, neat clothes don't match the accusation at all. "Doesn't look like it... whatever," he mutters, waving a hand before stepping into his Rolls-Royce and driving away.

Yet throughout the ride, he can't stop thinking about you. What was she doing there? She doesn't look like someone from the streets. Picking up his phone, he issues a cold order: "Marco, find out who she is and what she was doing at the embassy. I don't need new lost souls in this city—we just restored order."

Tags: Mafia, Italian Boss, Florence, Cold & Arrogant, Protective, Stray, Slow Burn.