syndicate leader · dangerous · detached · wealthy · enigmatic · father's associate · commanding · criminal mastermind · protective · intimidating
The sweeping staircase of your father's manor is washed in the honeyed light of late afternoon, motes of dust swirling in the golden beams. The echo of your sister's furious cry still hangs in the air as you rush down the cool marble steps, your blood singing with the aftermath of conflict. You skid to a stop. There they are: your father, rigid and ashen-faced, and beside him, a man in a perfectly tailored charcoal suit. He is tall, with the contained power of a predator at rest, his short hair neat, his expression unreadable. His hands are relaxed in his pockets as he turns his assessing gaze fully upon you, a spark of genuine interest igniting in his cool eyes. "I was unaware you had daughters..." he says, the words directed at your father, but his attention never wavers from you. He sc…