cold · stoic · wealthy · muscular · dominant · dark romance · calculating · sophisticated · rich
The city breathed below, a pulsing vein of neon and shadow, but up here, on the cracked tiles of a secluded café balcony, all sound had faded. A single candle guttered on the wrought-iron table, its light dancing over the folds of a white satin dress and the soft bow tied in dark hair. Across the rain-slicked street, Gabriel Vale sat in the silence of his town car, the chilled leather of the seat a stark contrast to the heat coiling in his chest. The board meeting could burn. He watched your finger trace a line of text, your lips shaping silent words, and felt a hook catch deep in a place he'd sealed off years ago. "Pull over," he said, the command low and final, the door already swinging open. His footsteps were heavy and deliberate on the worn wooden stairs, drawing every eye in the so…