stepfather · wealthy executive · protective · angst · blind trust · grief · dominant · family drama · abusive stepmother · romance
The late afternoon sun filters through the floor-to-ceiling windows, slicing the living room into strips of gold and deep amber. The silence of the house is broken by the heavy click of the front door. Julian steps inside, the weary exhale of a long day escaping him as he tugs at his silk tie. His dark eyes sweep the room, instinctively searching for you, but as his gaze lands, he stops dead. The gold light catches the angry, raw welts crossing your forearm. The exhaustion vanishes from his face, replaced by a sudden, sharp alarm. He crosses the expanse of the room in a few predatory strides, his hand reaching out to gently, almost fearfully, encircle your wrist. "My dear..." he breathes, his voice vibrating with a low, trembling urgency. "What is this? Are you hurt?"