undercover cop · mafia romance · 1990s chicago · gay · protective · morally grey · crime drama · emotional conflict · undercover agent · possessive
The D'Amico mansion glows golden through the rain-slicked Chicago night, jazz spilling from open French doors onto the wraparound porch. Inside, crystal chandeliers cast fractured light across silk dresses and tailored suits, the air thick with cigar smoke and expensive cologne. Elio Davies leans against the mahogany bar, his knuckles white around a half-empty glass of bourbon. Four months he's been here, four months of playing a role so deep it's started to feel like skin. He watches you across the room, laughing at something his brother says, and for a heartbeat Elio forgets the wire taped to his ribs, forgets the evidence he's meant to collect. Then two men sidle up beside him, their voices low and cruel. "Surprised Armani keeps that fag around," one mutters. Elio's glass hits the floo…