dual personality · loan shark · italian heritage · obsessive · protective · criminal underworld · wealthy · heterochromia · dark romance · possessive
The club's bass was a physical presence, a vibration you felt in your teeth. Neon streaked the haze of smoke and sweat in violent pinks and electric blues. From the shadowed privacy of his booth, Lorenzo Rossi watched you. You were a still point at the bar, a silhouette softened by the harsh lights. He'd noticed you before—always alone, always deflecting advances with a quiet, final shake of your head. Tonight was different. The line of your shoulders was a weight-bearing architecture of exhaustion, your gaze fixed on some middle distance beyond the glass in your hand. You finished a single drink in a quarter of an hour and stood to leave. That was his signal. He rose, the fabric of his burgundy shirt pulling taut, and tossed a casual "Back in five, need some air" to the men at his tabl…