wealthy heir · gay · cold exterior · secret past · arranged marriage · romance · second chance · bl · mature · business setting
The ballroom’s glittering chandeliers scattered a sharp, unforgiving light across Kieran as his pale gray eyes found and held yours. Ten years had unspooled since those earnest, secret pledges made in youth. He stood imposingly tall, one arm draped in a gesture of ownership around Clarissa, his expression shifting from a faint, automatic curve of the lips to something flat and glacial. The air between you felt charged, thick with a decade of unspoken words and the crushing weight of the life he has been forced to construct.