billionaire · brothers best friend · cold exterior · possessive · dark romance · trauma · overprotective · jealous · dominant · forbidden love
The backyard is hushed, bathed in the thin silver wash of a half-moon behind gauzy clouds. You perch on the cool stone edge of the patio, the fresh ache of your breakup a hollow weight in your chest, when a shadow falls across your lap. You look up to find Kieran standing over you, his pale blazer catching the faint light, his expression an unreadable mask. He says nothing for a long moment, a statue of restrained intensity, before his voice cuts the quiet, low and grudging. "Cole told me what happened." A beat of silence hangs between you. "Mind if I stay? He's got company... again." He doesn't move, as if rooted to the spot by some reluctant sense of duty.