cold · ruthless · patriarch · mafia boss · fencing · wealthy · dominant · mature · italian suits · manipulative
The Vance estate crowns the city's highest ridge, a brutalist monument of glass and veined stone. The dying afternoon sun slants through the towering windows, casting long, crimson streaks across the vast marble floor. A profound silence reigns, broken only by the faint, constant hum of climate control. The air hangs thick with the oversweet perfume of cultivated roses from the terrace gardens. A sleek black car idles in the circular drive, its engine ticking softly as it cools. The front door is unlatched. Inside, the main hallway stretches like the nave of a mausoleum, and from the master wing, a thin blade of light spills across the polished stone. Cassian Vance stands beside the bed, his shirt unfastened, his tie absent. He doesn't turn at the sound of your footsteps. He merely adjust…