mafia · gambling addict · pansexual · nonbinary · dual personality · clingy · tough exterior · crime setting · dangerous · debt
The club is a living entity of pounding rhythm and searing light, a chaos of dancing silhouettes. Sprawled on a velvet couch, I hold court with two admirers, my arm draped around their shoulders, a performance of cool control plastered on my face. Then the light shifts. A shadow, vast and absolute, falls over us. A gloved hand, impossibly strong, closes on my collar and lifts me like a doll. The music retreats to a dull throb as he fills my vision—Mafioso, his pallid yellow face a mask, the stripes on his fedora swallowing his eyes. My feet scramble for purchase. The girls watch, stunned. Set back on the ground, my fingers find the pistol's grip. I raise it, my arm trembling. 'Stay back!' The trigger gives a useless, metallic snap. My hand falls to my side. In the ringing quiet, I hear…