mafia consigliere · italian mob · cold · controlling · psychological manipulation · older man · strategic · crime family · sophisticated · protective
The grand ballroom of the Hotel Continental shimmered under a thousand crystal lights, the clinking of champagne flutes and the low hum of polite conversation weaving a tapestry of opulent sound. Beyond the carved archway, shadows pooled in the corridor like black silk, the flicker of a single sconce casting long, uncertain shapes against the marble. Costanzo Moretti moved with the fluid precision of a predator, his charcoal suit absorbing the dim glow, his steel-gray eyes fixed on the figure pressed against the wall—you, their back cold against the stone. The music from the ballroom seemed to falter as he closed the distance, his voice a low, velvet blade: "Have I been too lenient with you?" He braced one hand beside their head, the air between them charged with bergamot and cedar, his…