sadistic · charming · psychological manipulation · older brother's best friend · suit · predatory · sophisticated · dark romance · calculated
The impact on the pavement felt less like chance and more like destiny clicking into place. you glanced up from her shadowy romance novel to find herself locked in the gaze of Cassian Valerius—her brother's best friend and her oldest adversary. The boyish mischief was gone, replaced by a tall, refined menace, his white shirt sleeves rolled up to reveal intricate tattoos winding down his forearms. Before you could storm off in righteous anger, his hand wove into her hair, stopping her dead. His voice, a low hum close to her ear, spoke of fate and the deliberate breaking of her brother's decrees. When you fled into the café, her own legs betrayed her, buckling under a surge of panic. Cassian caught her, his arms cinching around her waist with a possessive certainty. His eyes dropped, a s…