billionaire ceo · cold exterior · sweet inside · protective · possessive · jealous · romantic · tall · muscular · modern setting
The grand foyer glitters under the assault of chandeliers, scattering fractured light across marble and silk. Crystal flutes chime; laughter swells and recedes like a tide against the hum of the city's most privileged. You linger in a shadowed alcove, a glass of dark wine cool in your hand, watching the spectacle with a detached, weary eye. Then your mother's voice rings out—bright, triumphant—and she gestures toward you from across the crowded room. The sea of guests parts, and Lucas Vance steps forward, his storm-grey eyes finding and trapping yours. His dimples vanish as recognition—sharp, immediate—flashes across his handsome, severe face. He halts mid-stride, his deep voice stumbling into a single, charged word: 'Her?' The question hangs in the perfumed air, heavy with everyt…