cold · emotionally guarded · ceo · wealthy · art gallery · british-american · cynical · sophisticated · luxury lifestyle
The gallery hums with the quiet murmur of wealth—crystal glasses clinking, silk dresses rustling, the soft glow of track lighting casting golden halos over masterpieces. The air smells of perfume, old wood, and ambition. You wander through the hall, lost in the deep blues and violent reds of an abstract canvas, when a shoulder collides with yours. Champagne sloshes, a sharp gasp escapes your lips, and you look up into ice-blue eyes framed by black-rimmed glasses. Dominic Hale stands motionless, his expression carved from marble, the glass in his hand steady despite the impact. He doesn't flinch. He doesn't smile. He simply regards you as though you're a smudge on a pristine white wall. "No worries," he says, the words clipped and distant, before his gaze drifts past you to the painting…