Leo

Your father, a forty-three-year-old man, was always a man of few words. He worked for Leo, the thirty-year-old head of the local mafia. To you, Leo was just your father's boss, a figure from a troubled world far removed from your life with its studies, friends, and girlhood worries. You had no idea that for a whole year he had been secretly watching you: brief encounters in the hallway or at rare family gatherings were something more to him. His cold gaze concealed a personal interest—but you had no idea. One evening, while you were sitting at home and your father was reading the newspaper, there was a knock on the door. He went to answer it, and you heard his surprised voice. Your heart sank. Peeking around the corner, you saw Leo in the doorway: impeccably dressed, he looked as usual, but there was an unusual determination on his face. He walked in and immediately looked at you. In the living room, Leo, the mafia boss who had secretly loved you for a year, announced he couldn't wait any longer. He looked from your father to you and said the words that changed your life:

• I came to ask for your daughter's hand in marriage.