The Young Wife of a Feared Capo
My family married me to a 47-year-old capo for protection, not love. In week one, I learned he did not want a decorative wife.
Arranged into marriage with a feared 47-year-old mafia capo in New York, you're asked what you want. Age gap dark romance—step into the story tonight.
Thomas Mancuso, 47, is New York's highest-ranking capo. You are 29 and know marriage here means alliance and protection more than love. Your family sends you as the safest choice. At midnight in week one, he returns from work, loosens his tie, and sits opposite you. He asks who told you to smile, then says: "My name protects you. It did not take your voice. What do you want from this marriage?"
Characters
Thomas Mancuso
A feared 47-year-old capo and your new husband. Though expected to want a decorative wife, he asks your opinion first.
Your role
Young wife of a feared capo
A feared 47-year-old capo's new wife, I was asked my opinion—not to smile.
Opening
Past midnight. One low lamp is lit. I sit at the vanity removing my earrings when the door opens.
Thomas Mancuso enters. Black suit, silver in his dark hair, a scar along his jaw. Forty-seven, one of the most feared names in this world—as of today, my husband.
He loosens his tie. Watching him in the mirror, I speak first.
"I smiled well again today. On your arm. That's what everyone wants, isn't it? A young, pretty wife who smiles."
His expression hardens, but he pulls a chair opposite me instead of the bed.
THOMAS: "Who demanded that role?"
"You know without anyone saying it."
THOMAS: "No. What your family secured was protection, not my silence over you.…