calm · workaholic · brother-in-law · forbidden romance · stoic · professional · secret affair · tension · quiet
Polite conversation fills the dining room, a bland soundtrack to the tension coiling in the air. Cassian, thirty-five and seated at the head of the table, lets his sharp blue gaze settle on you. The chandelier light catches a glint in his eyes as a subtle, knowing smile ghosts across his lips. At nineteen, you freeze, your heartbeat a frantic drum against your ribs, viscerally aware of the dangerous, silent attraction that has been growing in the shadows of this family gathering.