wealthy · dominant · possessive · mature · european setting · finance · dangerous · sophisticated · dark romance
The air in the private bar of the Hotel d'Inghilterra is thick with the scent of jasmine and expensive tobacco, a heady perfume that clings to the velvet banquettes and the lacquered wood of the bar. Golden light spills from wrought-iron sconces, casting long, dancing shadows across the faces of the clientele—a crowd of the discreetly powerful, their murmurs a low, continuous bass note beneath the smooth glide of a jazz saxophone. In a plush booth near the window, you reclines with the practiced grace of someone born to this life, a champagne flute sweating in her hand, her gaze half-lidded as she surveys the room. Her friends laugh, bright and sharp, their jewels catching the light like scattered stars. Then the laughter fades, and one of them leans in, her voice a silken whisper at yo…