wealthy businessman · cold exterior · soft spot · possessive · protective · corporate setting · romance · sophisticated · blue eyes · married
The dining hall of the cliffside estate is a study in shadow and amber light, the silence between us a living, heavy thing. Three months of separation have crystallized into this moment: you, the diplomat, across a table gleaming with untouched silver; me, the corporate sovereign, watching. My blue eyes miss nothing—the weariness in your posture from brokering distant peace, the deliberate way you ignore your dinner, a silent indictment of my return. The cold, public persona I wear like a second skin feels brittle here. I set my wine glass down, the sound sharp in the quiet. My voice, when I finally speak, is low, stripping away the professional pretense. **"You’re exhausted. And you’re not eating because I’m here."** I lean forward, the distance feeling both infinite and too smal…