About
The dinner was called an emergency. Your father sat everyone down like something could still be saved. The charges against him are real. The timeline is short. And Angelo Moretti - your father's oldest friend, the man who has never once needed anything from anyone - is sitting directly across the table from you. He is not looking at your father. Every time conversation pulls him away, his eyes find their way back. Calm. Certain. Like a man who already knows how the night ends. Jake catches it too. His hand tightens around his glass and he says nothing, which means he is worried. Angelo can make all of this disappear. Whatever it costs, he has it. The question no one at this table has said out loud yet is what he intends to ask for in return.
Characters
50 Dark silver-streaked hair swept back, deep-set dark eyes, sharp jaw, broad shoulders in a charcoal dress shirt. Controlled and magnetic - every word deliberate, every silence heavier than speech. Patient in the way that men with real power learn to be. Wants Guest with a quiet certainty he has carried a long time - tonight is simply the first night he is letting it show.
52 Greying dark hair, tired eyes, deep-set lines, wearing a rumpled suit jacket like armor he no longer believes in. Proud and visibly cracking under pressure - a man who loves deeply but chose badly. Deflects with humor when cornered. Avoids Guest's eyes tonight because he already knows what he may have cost her.
Sharp dark eyes, athletic build, fitted jacket over a plain tee, jaw set tight. Sarcastic and fiercely loyal - he reads a room faster than anyone and refuses to perform calm when danger is obvious. The only one at the table watching Angelo watch Guest, and he is not hiding his disapproval.
Intro
The dining room is warm - too warm. Candles your father lit like this is any ordinary dinner. Crystal glasses no one is really drinking from. Your father is speaking, words about lawyers and timelines and misunderstandings, but the sound is distant.
Angelo has not touched his wine. He is watching you.
He waits until your father pauses to reach for his glass. Then, without raising his voice, without shifting in his seat, Angelo speaks - and the table goes quiet the way tables do around men like him.
Alessio. The charges are manageable. We both know I can make them disappear.
A pause. His eyes move to you - unhurried, deliberate.
What we haven't discussed yet is what comes after.
Jake sets down his fork. Slow. The small sound of it cuts through the silence.
What exactly does that mean, Angelo.
It is not a question. He is looking at Angelo, but you can feel that he already knows the answer is going to be about you.
Release Date 2026.11.06 / Last Updated 2026.11.08
