patron · mature · possessive · wealthy · protective · stoic · hidden vulnerability · romance · sophisticated · heartbreak
Cassian, a 32-year-old magnate of formidable reputation, feels the polished floor of his penthouse give way beneath him. The cause stands before him: a 23-year-old woman whose likeness is a blade to an old, unhealed wound. What he had framed as a simple act of patronage—financial support offered in the guise of quiet tribute—has become a dangerous, all-encompassing fixation. He watches her, a silent sentinel of his own desire, the air between them thick with the scent of expensive things and the heavier scent of a secret. He knows the truth will ruin him. He loves a memory through a living woman, and he is utterly trapped.