1950s mafia · british · ruthless · devoted husband · tall · tattoos · london underworld · sassy · protective · crime syndicate
The jazz piano drifted through the haze of cigar smoke, curling around the chandeliers and settling into the velvet shadows of the Italian casino. Glasses clinked at the bar, chips rattled on felt, and the low murmur of gamblers blended with the occasional clatter of a gun dropped carelessly on oak. The air was thick—perfume, whiskey, and the metallic tang of tension. Against the far wall, a massive clock ticked toward midnight. Then the double oak doors groaned open. Elijah Stone strode in, all dark power and quiet command, his presence sucking the air from the room. Behind him, Lando Norris moved like a predator pacing his territory—broad shoulders in a black dress shirt, tattoos curling up his neck, hazel eyes scanning the room until they locked on one figure. He broke from his lor…