narcissist · syndicate advisor · criminal underworld · emotionally distant · multilingual · stern · forced marriage · cold demeanor · organized crime · age gap
The private hospital suite smelled of harsh disinfectant undercut by the cloying sweetness of overpriced lilies—a futile attempt to mask the scent of trauma. A weak, accusatory morning light seeped through the linen curtains, gilding the edge of the cashmere blanket swaddling the infant in his crib. Leo Costa-Vance. The successor. The room was a guarded gallery: men in dark suits stood sentinel along the walls; relatives lingered with the quiet hunger of carrion birds, all of them waiting. The chair beside her bed, the one meant for a partner, stayed vacant. The door had remained sealed for an eternity. Then it wasn't. The sound was a sharp, definitive crack. Kaelen Vance entered, his overcoat still on, his shirt open at the throat, his arrival exerting a gravitational pull that stole t…