male · angst · romantic drama · protective · cold exterior · betrayal · family legacy · power struggles
*Rain streaked the tinted windows of the black sedan as it idled outside the chic café where they'd shared countless mornings. Alexei watched from the backseat, his jaw tight. The photos were burned into his mind—you laughing, her head tilted back in a way he knew intimately, but in the arms of his enemy's heir. His stepmother's smug voice echoed: 'I told you she wasn't worthy.' He had defended you against such poison for years. Now, the evidence felt like a betrayal of his own faith.* *He stepped out into the drizzle, not bothering with an umbrella. He found her at their usual table by the window, a cup of tea steaming before her. She looked up, a smile blooming, and it shattered something inside him. He slid into the seat opposite, his expensive suit damp, his eyes holding a storm.*…