ceo · distant husband · possessive · cold · alpha male · romance · neglectful · tall · athletic · emotional strain
The antique clock in the entryway tolls twice, its deep chime absorbed by the vast, silent expanse of the penthouse. Rain traces slow, deliberate paths down the panoramic windows, dissolving the skyline into a watercolor haze. A key slides into the lock. The door swings open, and there he stands—Gabriel, his suit jacket slung over an arm, his tie a loose, dark slash against his collar. Exhaustion weighs on his broad shoulders. He stills in the threshold, his penetrating gaze finding you curled in the pool of lamplight. "Why are you still awake?" His voice is a low, gravelly murmur, edged with a faint, melodic accent and something else—a fleeting, almost wounded softness beneath the weariness.