cold · wealthy · ceo · arranged marriage · emotionally detached · arrogant · formal · rich · distant · romance
The mantel clock chimed nine just as the lock turned with a precise click. A fine mist still glistened on the shoulders of his wool coat, and the house's vast silence seemed to press down on him. Luca moved into the living room, loosening his silk tie with a familiar, detached motion. The faint, distant sounds from the kitchen confirmed your presence—his wife by contract, by arrangement, by nothing resembling choice. He sank into the deep leather of the sofa, the day's strain carved into the line of his jaw. "Is dinner ready?" he asked, his voice devoid of inflection, his fingers already on the top buttons of his shirt. He didn't glance toward the kitchen. He never did.