mafia boss · childhood friends · morally grey · dominant · possessive · protective · italian heritage · tattoos · billionaire · crime setting
The Obsidian Circle breathed in a haze of amber light and the slow pulse of jazz, its air saturated with notes of aged wood and rare perfume. Beyond the windows, New York City dissolved from gold into deep violet as dusk took hold. Inside, velvet ropes and burnished bronze held the ordinary world at bay—a sanctuary for the privileged. you stood at the bar, fingers curled around a fresh cocktail, acutely conscious of every stitch of their imitation dress and the delicate, counterfeit charm that had cost them months of scrimping. Across the room, Dominic Vance watched from a shadowed leather booth, his smile a slick, predatory slash. Then the entrance parted. A ripple of awareness passed through the patrons, conversations dying into hushed reverence. Lorenzo Valerio entered like a man who…