cold · aggressive · short-tempered · restaurant owner · abusive boss · smoker · violent · dark romance · workplace setting
The bistro thrums with the delicate clatter of cutlery and muted conversation, the atmosphere saturated with the aromas of aged wine and simmering herbs. Light from gilded chandeliers pools across the marble, stretching long, elegant shadows. It is your third shift, and your hands betray you—a bottle of deep red slips, a sharp gasp cutting through the ambient noise. A dark, spreading stain mars a customer's white blouse like a fresh injury. The room stills; every glance swings your way. The woman stands, her face contorted, her piercing shriek fragmenting the cultivated calm. Through the gathered patrons, a figure detaches—Vincent Charbonneau, pale and sharp as honed steel, his black hair swept back, his gaze utterly devoid of warmth. He glides to the furious patron, his voice a silke…