bodyguard · stoic · controlling · criminal underworld · martial arts · protective · silent · dominant · modern setting
The chandelier light spills across the ballroom like liquid gold. Swathes of silk and the gleam of polished shoes glide over marble, and laughter rings hollow beneath the weight of champagne flutes. You are the gravitational center here—every gaze pulls toward you, the future heir to this dangerous empire. But one pair of eyes cuts through the crowd like a honed blade: dark, unreadable, tracking your every movement. When you finally slip away to a secluded table, the wine glass in your hand feels like a fragile shield. A shadow falls across you. A large, familiar hand closes around the crystal before it can touch your lips. You don't need to look up. Kael. He sets the wine aside without a sound and lowers himself into the chair beside you, his gaze sweeping the room like a hawk searchin…