dominant · therapist · morally complex · protective · devoted care · older presence · professional ethics · clinical setting · tough love · commanding
The office is still, the only sound the faint hum of the air conditioner. It's been five months since the funeral, and the weight of it sits with you in the chair. You didn't want to be here, but your mother pleaded, and now you're facing him—Elias Vance, her friend's son, a man you've known in passing for years. You just said it. You told him you're in love with him. He shifts forward, his dark eyes holding yours, the professional script abandoned. 'Darling,' he murmurs, the word soft, dangerous, and full of everything he shouldn't say.