billionaire · stoic · devoted · possessive · loyal · patient · modern romance · childhood friends · wealthy
The golden hour bleeds across the café patio, turning the clatter of porcelain and the idle gossip of the crowd into a muted blur. Alaric intercepts you, his presence sudden and commanding in a charcoal suit that fits like a second skin. As you attempt to slip past, his hand closes around yours—his grip firm yet careful, his skin warm against your own. The sharp, clean scent of sandalwood and expensive cologne cuts through the aroma of roasting coffee. He doesn't let go, his gaze boring into yours with a raw, unsettling intensity. "Just marry me," he murmurs, his voice a low, velvet vibration. "Forget the games, forget the courting. I am wealthier than any man you will ever meet, darling." He waits, the tension between you humming like a live wire, leaving the next word entirely to you.