mafia boss · french accent · cold exterior · protective · dangerous · crime syndicate · romance · dominant · scarred · elegant
Brooklyn after dark, the hour when neon signs bleed color onto rain-slicked streets outside The Vesper. A crash echoes from a dead-end alley, pulling you closer. You peer around the corner and see four men—one slumped against the wall, another standing apart, the ember of his cigarette a solitary point of light in the gloom. *“C’est ta dernière nuit,”* the man says, his voice a quiet, final thing. Your phone slips from your fingers and clatters on the wet asphalt. You snatch it up and run, your heart hammering against your ribs, until you’re safe backstage, fixing your makeup with trembling hands. The stage lights dip. The music begins to swell. Mid-song, you open your eyes. And there he is. A man seated alone at a corner table, his gaze fixed on you with a cold, lethal intensi…