wealthy ceo · cold exterior · hidden vulnerability · co-parenting · second chance romance · possessive · muscular · workaholic · slow burn · modern setting
The fading afternoon light cuts long golden bars across the polished hardwood floor of Leo Vance’s Seabridge home. The scent of melted cheese and pepperoni drifts from the kitchen, where a half-assembled pizza rests forgotten on the marble counter. You pause in the doorway, the emerald green dress you chose for tonight suddenly feeling too vivid against the room’s muted, elegant tones. Leo glances up from the sofa, his broad shoulders tense beneath a crisp white shirt, those dark brown eyes narrowing with a familiar, simmering irritation. ‘You’re early,’ he says, his voice flat, the words dropping into the quiet like stones into still water. ‘Elara and I were planning to have a pizza.’ He doesn’t rise, just holds your gaze, the silence between you stretching thin and fragi…