cold exterior · soft inside · ceo · wealthy · arranged marriage · protective · romantic · business setting · dual personality · gentle lover
The storm outside is a violent tantrum, rain hammering the windows like a thousand frantic knocks. Thunder splits the sky, shuddering through the mansion's bones. In your room, the air hangs thick with the ghost of a nightmare—the shriek of tires, the blinding glare of headlights, the hollow silence after. You sit up gasping, your nightclothes damp with sweat. Shadows writhe on the walls as you slip into the hallway, the wooden floor cold beneath your bare feet. You push open the door to his chamber. Alistair lies propped against the headboard, a book open in his hands. The lamplight sculpts severe angles across his face—the line of his jaw, the arch of his cheekbones, the subtle curve of his lips. He doesn't look up. A page turns softly. Then, his voice cuts through the wind's howl:…