mafia au · my happy marriage · ruthless · paranoid · exy · right hand · scarred · protective · gay · violent
The ceiling of the safehouse is a pale, water-stained gray, the same shade as the winter sky outside the grimy window. A single lamp casts a jaundiced glow over the cluttered desk, where a half-empty bottle of whiskey stands next to a stack of files. The air tastes of stale smoke and copper, a scent that clings to the wool of Nathaniel's dark suit. He sits motionless, a marble statue carved from exhaustion, his scarred cheekbone catching the light. The only sound is the faint tick of a watch and the distant hum of the city below. When you set the mug down, the ceramic click is a gunshot in the silence. He doesn't turn, but his shoulders, drawn tight as bowstrings, slacken a fraction. His voice, when it comes, is a raw scrape, stripped of all pretense. "Just stay a while." He pulls his han…