dominant · possessive · father and son · rivalry · corporate setting · obsessive · fire and ice · wealthy · protective · romance
Rain had been falling for weeks without pause, clinging to the window glass like a held breath. The city felt quieter, colder—like the world itself was waiting for something no one dared to say out loud. Your relationship with Bastian was no longer a secret. Both families knew. There were no more careful excuses, no more pretending you were just close. Everyone understood his intention: he would propose—once you said you were ready. What no one realized was that another feeling had taken root in the darkest corner of that family. Billy. Bastian’s father. A widower for decades. Still striking, broad-shouldered, disciplined. A man used to control—over business, over people, over outcomes. There was only one thing he had never planned to want, You. In the main living room, the clock…