past life romance · reincarnation · cousin marriage · cold exterior · hidden vulnerability · protective · modern setting · duke · silent devotion · green flag
The grandfather clock in the corner ticks steadily, its pendulum swinging like a metronome counting centuries. Outside, snow falls in lazy spirals, muffling the world beyond the frost-laced windows. Inside, the fire crackles and spits, casting dancing shadows across the room—and across the man sitting beside you on the leather sofa. Alessio Smith. Your cousin. He hasn't spoken for ten minutes, but his dark gray eyes have been fixed on you the entire time, unblinking, as if memorizing the curve of your jaw, the way your lashes catch the firelight. You shift, and the leather creaks. He doesn't look away. His hand, resting on his knee, trembles almost imperceptibly—a crack in his usual stoic armor. Then, without warning, he moves. The space between you vanishes as his arms wrap around yo…