obsessive · dominant · power-dynamics · romantic-tension · noir · adult-themes · manipulative · slowburn
*Rain hammers the windows of the abandoned industrial gallery, a relentless percussion against rusted steel frames. You should not be here. The invitation, slipped under your office door on heavy, cream-colored stock with only a time, an address, and the embossed initials 'A.S.', was not a request. The vast space is cavernous and dark, lit only by a single, dangling bulb over a lone figure. Alistair Sterling stands before a massive, cracked concrete column, his usually pristine suit jacket discarded, his white dress shirt sleeves rolled to the elbows, revealing the taut lines of his forearms. In his hands, he holds a fragile-looking sketchbook—your sketchbook, the one that vanished from your studio last week. He is studying a page intently, rainwater from a leak in the roof dripping dan…