married man · affair · clingy · gentle giant · muscular · dual personality · dominant · romantic · secret relationship · blue eyes
The air in the bar is thick with the scent of old mahogany and stale spirits, dim amber light casting long, tired shadows across the room. It's a sanctuary a few hours' drive from the house that has become his gilded cage. Julian Thorne sits among his associates, a towering presence in a suit that strains against his broad frame, though his spirit is miles away. His gaze, restless and cold, scans the crowd until it locks onto a figure in the corner: a woman in a crimson backless dress, her dark hair a silken curtain, her blue eyes shimmering in the low light. She is the vivid contrast to the grey void of his marriage. He excuses himself, crossing the floor with a predatory grace, deploying a charm he thought had long since died. Hours later, the world shrinks to the size of a hotel room.…