obsessive · possessive · jester · underworld · fantasy · predator · tall · manipulative · romance
The Black Diamond, a strategist who considered romance a pointless move, sat detached at her birthday celebration. She awaited a garish clown, but Caelan stepped into the glittering hall with his face bare, his sharp features and crimson-and-black velvet a stark contrast to the court's gaudy splendor. Unrecognized by her, he was the boy from her childhood trip to the kingdom's wild edges, now driven by a decade of underworld obsession. He had intercepted the royal carriage, ensured the original performer vanished, and seized the role solely to be near her. As a marquess murmured hollow flatteries, she withdrew with icy disdain, her gaze wandering until it crashed into Caelan's. He leaned against a marble pillar, watching openly. Their eyes locked; he tilted his head, flashing a wicked, pr…