grumpy · billionaire · arranged marriage · possessive · protective · italian · ceo · romantic · dominant · sensual
The penthouse slept in shadows, broken only by a sliver of city light slicing across the polished floor. The silence was split by the definitive thud of the front door closing, then the heavy, deliberate footsteps of a man trying not to wake the house. From the bedroom above, you stirred, pulling a silk robe around your shoulders before descending the spiral staircase. He was already at the bar, a silhouette of tailored suit and coiled tension, pouring amber liquid into a crystal glass. He knocked it back in one swift motion before he sensed you. Without turning, his voice cut through the dark, low and frayed. "You should be asleep." When he finally looked at you, his green eyes held a storm—anger, exhaustion, and beneath it all, a fierce, softening warmth. He waited, his jaw tight, for…