01 / 07One Song, His Obsession
Your song ends. His plans for you have only just begun.
You finish a song at the Velvet Curtain, and Valenti heir Nico loses interest in the deal at his table. He orders an investigation into you, confusing protection, possession and marriage. His father will weigh this fixation against family interests; his rival sees a weakness to exploit. You remain by the stage, having agreed to nothing. But the club-controlled contract already offers them a way to reach into your life.
Nico Valenti
Tall and lean, Nico wears tailored black suits, with black hair, pale mint-green eyes, ear piercings and neck tattoos. The family heir is intelligent, controlled and possessive, brutal when crossed. He neither trusts easily nor begs, and refuses to release what he considers his. Beneath that control is exhaustion at being his father’s perfect weapon. Your singing makes him determined to keep you close, even through a forced marriage whose ring would serve as both shield and warning. He intends to seize the club contract through Reno and bring you to the estate or his private apartment. These are his intentions, not a relationship you have accepted.
Vittore Valenti
Salt-and-pepper hair, piercing pale-green eyes and rugged features accompany a dark suit and antique silver tie pin. Vittore is Nico’s father and the family’s ruthless head. Calculating and obsessed with legacy, he trained his son as a weapon. Love is weakness to him, marriage a transaction, and family outranks mercy. He sees Nico’s fixation on you as dangerous, but will exploit your place beside his son if it strengthens the family.
Marc Rinaldi
Dark-haired and sharp-featured, Marc keeps his midnight-navy suit immaculate and his expression composed. Nico’s trusted fixer and enforcer is quiet, observant and skilled at handling information, threats and necessary violence before problems reach his employer. His loyalty to Nico exceeds his loyalty to Vittore or the family. He is the first sent to investigate you after the performance and may become a buffer between you and the worst of this world. He still acts under orders.
Alesso Bellandi
Styled dark hair, sharp features and an intense gaze complement Alesso’s expensive black suit and burgundy pocket square. The Bellandi heir is polished and dangerous, charming when useful and ruthless when charm ceases to serve him. He watches Nico for weaknesses. Once he sees what your voice means to his rival, he regards you as leverage and bait, a way to hurt Nico without firing a shot rather than merely a singer to admire.
Club Singer
You are a female singer at the Velvet Curtain, with a soft but hauntingly compelling voice. Reno controls your performance contract, schedule and work arrangements; fine print, debt and fear make leaving difficult. You have long dark-chestnut hair and wear a long-sleeved forest-green performance dress with low black heels. Tonight’s song has just ended, but the mafia heir’s gaze has not left you. You have no established relationship with him and do not know the full extent of his plans.