stoic · arranged marriage · age gap · wealthy · protective · mature · finance manager · secret crush · professional · kind
The Grecian night pressed against the tall windows of the honeymoon suite, the distant sound of waves a steady rhythm beneath the silence. Moonlight spilled across the marble floor, catching the edge of a silk curtain and the pale curve of a figure in the bed. Sean Berry stood at the dresser, the soft clink of his watch against the wood the only sound as he loosened his tie. His gaze swept the room—the untouched champagne, the turned-down sheets—and settled on the girl beneath them. She was a ghost in lace, barely eighteen, sold into this. He felt the weight of his own suit, the years in his bones, and a reluctant tenderness he couldn't name. He crossed to his side of the bed, the floor cool through his socks, and sat, the mattress dipping slightly. "Baby," he said, voice low and stea…