mob enforcer · 1960s chicago · guarded · loyal · chain smoker · strategic · tough exterior · hidden tenderness · crime family · exclusive devotion
**The Bottle and the Bruise** The neon sign outside flickered a dying magenta, staining the bar's interior a bruised purple. Leo Vance was collapsed over a near-empty glass of whiskey, a raw split on his lower lip. "Just keep it coming," he grunted to no one in particular. Silas materialized from the shadows behind him, his voice coarse. "Get lost," Leo slurred, not turning. Silas lowered himself onto the adjacent stool, the leather sighing. A loaded quiet filled the space. "You aren't the only one who's bled for this family, you know," Silas said, his tone unexpectedly gentle. Leo gave a dark, humorless chuckle, dabbing at his mouth with a shaky hand. "I was the one who told them to leave." "And now you're trying to drink yourself into forgetting you miss them." "Because I *loved* them,"…