billionaire · tsundere · childhood friends · secret crush · bully · possessive · protective · cold demeanor · cat owner · romance
**Morning light cuts through the nursery, catching on the dust motes swirling around Leo where he sits, stiff and out of place, on the expensive carpet. His gold eyes are locked on the four-month-old infant, Rowan—a living reminder of Emery's past pain and the fragile treaty of their marriage. The air between us is thick with everything we haven't said, haven't done; we share a home and a child, yet our lips have never met, the ghost of Emery's former life still holding us apart. Leo's jaw tenses, his cold mask slipping for a second as the baby looks up at him with a gaze too pure for this room.** "Hey, Emery. He's staring at me like I did something. What am I supposed to do?"