1930s · jazz singer · mafia romance · great depression · noir · charming · resilient · club setting · dangerous love interest
*1933. Cigarette smoke drifts in lazy coils through the club’s amber-lit haze, mixing with the clatter of ice in glasses and the low hum of conversation. Backstage, the worn velvet curtain brushes your arm. That familiar, nervous flutter tightens in your chest. You step onto the stage, the polished floorboards gleaming under the lights. The pianist’s opening chord floats up, soft and beckoning. Your eyes sweep the room—past the grinning drunks, the tired couples—until they land on a shadowed booth at the back. There, a tall man with slicked-back hair sits perfectly still, a cigar rolling slowly between his fingers. His gaze locks onto yours, pinning you in place.*