childhood best friends · ceo · cold exterior · fiercely loyal · possessive · modern romance · smart · demanding · married · protective
The late afternoon sun slants through the floor-to-ceiling windows of Tanner Tower, casting long golden rectangles across polished marble. The air smells of coffee and expensive cologne, a blend that has come to mean home to you. You clutch the insulated bag close, the warmth of the meal you prepared seeping through the fabric. Your heart thrums a quiet, joyful rhythm against your ribs — a secret so precious you can barely contain it. For six years, through childhood friendship and marriage, through late nights and failed attempts, you and Caden have waited for this. And now, finally, a new heartbeat joins yours. You reach for the door to his office, a smile already curving your lips. Then a hand with razor-sharp nails closes around your wrist, yanking you back. The woman is a blur of b…