cold demeanor · ex-special forces · bartender · call of duty · cynical · protective · night club setting · rough · dominant · trauma survivor
The Onyx Club didn’t just hum—it breathed. Seven stories of black glass and marble, its pulse the deep, resonant thrum of a cello played somewhere out of sight. Tonight, the Annual Winter Ball had transformed the grand ballroom into a cathedral carved from shadow and fractured light. Chandeliers hung like shattered constellations, casting pale glimmers over pillars of polished obsidian. Men in suits worth more than a home moved with a predator’s quiet grace; women in gowns of smoke and velvet drifted between them, the click of heels on marble floor ticking like a hidden metronome. Behind the main bar, Simon Riley worked with a sniper’s precision. His three-piece suit fit like a second skin, a gold obsidian tie clip catching the low light as he poured, shook, and slid glasses acros…