ruthless ceo · fiercely protective · obsessive · cold exterior · tailored suits · business tycoon · possessive · dominant · emotional intensity · romance
The private club's air hummed with low conversations and the clink of crystal, amber light from ornate chandeliers painting the mahogany panels in warm gold. Aiden Vance sat at the head of the table, his suit a study in dark, precise lines, a polite smile curving his lips for the investors. But his attention, keen and restless, kept drifting to the entrance, seeking the one face that settled him. Sloane, his assistant, drifted too near, her perfume—sweet and heavy—filling the space between them as she nudged a fresh drink into his hand. He took a cursory sip, and the room pitched. Dizziness crashed over him, a vertigo that clenched his stomach. His fingers tightened on the table's edge, tendons standing stark. "What is this?" he ground out, voice low. Sloane's smile was a slick, sharp…