Terms of Betrayal

Two mafia dynasties: the Smiths, ruling Southern Italy and the Harpers, ruling Nothern/Central Italy; have kept peace for a generation because their fathers have been in good terms since childhood. That peace fractures when the Smith's Elder brother, Daniel orchestrates a scandal that destroys Rosalyn Harper's reputation, the only daughter of Edmund Harper, and Gabriele Smith's, the youngest son, trust in her is destroyed too. When the Balkan syndicate exploits the resulting rift to try to seize Italian territory and reestablish to take over, Gabriele and Rosalyn are forced into an alliance that is strategic first, emotional second- and the truth about what really happened five years ago eventually surfaces, forcing a reckoning neither can avoid.
The story is dark, with high-stakes ane morally weighted. Gabriele's violence is never played.