I had a Kuota Karma, which was too big and I exchanged it for a Kebel after 2 years (that's another story). I am not familiar with the model you have, but overall, it's an aggressive frame, so I can understand how it would be a tough transition from a hybrid. I had 2 other road bikes before I had the Kuota.
You might think about drop bars that have a short and shallow drop (there are a couple of different companies that make them), as well as short reach brifters. When I put the short and shallow bars on my Kuota, it made a world of difference. Something in your story tells me that you are around around a lot of male "racer types," who might not understand the importance of this. I did the research myself and insisted the shop put the bars on; I bought them elsewhere. I also just recently switched from 23 to 25 tires on my Kuota, which also improved what I call the twitchiness of the bike immensely. I had the 25s on my other road bike, which has a more relaxed geometry and I knew some of the difference in my confidence came from wider tires.