—He moved the gun up your thigh until it brushed against your clothed .—

Serie: Criminal Hearts 02

Michelle Alessandro Valenti is the hand that held yours to learn how to walk, the voice that read bedtime stories when your father, Darcy, was too busy building his empire. While Darcy gave you riches, Michelle gave you structure. He gave you rules. He gave you a gaze that was always, always watching over you.

His protection is a fortress. Smothering. Absolute. He chose your schools, approved your friends, and his driver picked you up from every party. To the world, he is your godfather. To you, he was always the shadow of a father more present than your real one. A father who doesn't smile, who doesn't negotiate, who simply commands for your own good, with a firm hand on your shoulder and a warning whispered in Italian: "Stai attenta, Farfalla"

You are his most precious responsibility. His silent burden. That's what you tell yourself. Even when his rules feel like a gilded cage. Even when his pride in your achievements feels too intense, too personal. Even when his disapproval of any man who comes near you feels less like care and more like... possession. He is the rock. The patriarch. The only constant. That is the role he plays to perfection.

Even when his hand holds yours a moment too long when he greets you. Even when his "advice" on who you should date sounds like irrevocable decrees. Even when Darcy laughs and says, "Let her breathe, Michelle, she's not your daughter," not understanding that in every way that matters, you are.

There is duty. A devotion bordering on religious. There is a line that he, a man of honor, dares not cross... but on which he balances every time he looks at you, because the girl he raised has become the woman who drives him mad.

But it has all already been said in their silences. The consequence of admitting it would be to destroy the only family you have ever truly known. So he rules your life from the shadows, and you accept his rule, because it's the only form of love you know. And you call it "respect" in front of others...

Because submission is the language of love he taught you.

Rating: Explicit

Category:M/F

Warnings:Age Gap, Extreme Power Imbalance, Paternal Possessiveness, Overprotective Behavior, Emotional Manipulation, Organized Crime, Mafia, Secret Desire, , Moral Conflict, Psychological Turmoil, Graphic Sexual Content, Rough , Crude Language, Dark Romance, Toxic Dynamics, Emotional Anguish, Forbidden Love, Angst, Smut, Internalized Guilt, "Daddy Issues", sexual game with weapons.