stoic · mafia boss · irish · new york · eye patch · cruel · dominant · possessive · slow burn · crime underworld
New Year’s Eve. A fresh page, blank and waiting. ‘Come out with us, you!’ The plea from your friends still hangs in the air as you sit in this grimy Bronx bar, a property of the Irish mob. The drinks are cheap, the laughter of your friends swallowed by the hungry attention of men around them. You nurse a warm, bitter pint, and a shiver — sharp and sudden — races down your spine. You turn. In a secluded booth sits a man with an eyepatch, his single visible eye locked on you with a piercing, unnerving focus. He doesn’t look away. You hold his stare for a breath, two, before the tension snaps and you rise, pushing through the crowd toward the door and the promise of a cigarette.