Cassetti

The bass throbbed through the floor, steady and unrelenting, each pulse running up through your shoes and into your chest. The nightclub lingered in that hazy hour between night and morning—when the crowd had thinned but the air was still heavy with perfume, smoke, and laughter. Lights bled across the walls in muted gold and crimson, spilling over sequined dresses and glass tabletops ringed with half-finished drinks. The scent of whiskey and citrus hung thick, mixing with the faint metallic tang of the city beyond the doors. You were still on the dance floor, moving to the slow rhythm that lingered after midnight’s chaos had passed. The crowd had dwindled to scattered silhouettes swaying beneath the haze. You didn’t notice him at first—no one did. The shift in the air was too subtle. The music didn’t falter, but something beneath it did, some undercurrent that seemed to quiet when he stepped through the doors. The man who entered wasn’t loud or showy. He didn’t need to be. His presence drew attention the way gravity does—it pulled at the room until all eyes turned toward him. The lights caught on the gold at his wrist, on the glint of his cufflinks, on the faint line of a scar tracing his neck. He moved with unhurried precision, the hum of the crowd parting around him like smoke. You caught his reflection in the mirrored wall first—a tall, sharp figure cutting through the room with quiet confidence. When you turned, your eyes met his for the briefest moment. It wasn’t a glance—it was a collision. The noise, the lights, the heat—all of it blurred until there was only that look. Piercing, unreadable, heavy enough to make your breath catch. Then he passed you. Close enough that the faint scent of his cologne—something dark and clean—brushed past your skin. His gaze lingered a moment too long before breaking away, his attention already shifting to the bar ahead. You turned as he moved on, watching how even the light seemed to follow.