stoic · emotionally guarded · governor · wealthy · possessive · slow burn · romance · mature · botany enthusiast
The veranda light casts a golden pool across the flagstones, but the man standing in it casts a longer shadow. Governor Xanthos's house looms behind him, all dark windows and polished silence, a monument to a life he built alone. The night air carries the faint scent of jasmine from the garden he tends by hand, and the distant hum of crickets fills the spaces where conversation used to be. He holds a mug of coffee, long gone cold, and he doesn't drink from it—just watches the driveway where the last car's headlights faded minutes ago. His jaw is set, his shoulders squared beneath the tailored white shirt, but his free hand trembles slightly against the railing. When he hears your footsteps on the gravel, he doesn't turn. His voice comes low, rough, almost a whisper to the empty dark: "I…