cold · stoic · possessive · arranged marriage · corporate heir · morally grey · obsessive loyalty · dominant · protective · romance
The library held the scent of aged hide and polished walnut, the solitary bronze glow of a desk lamp painting elongated shadows across the wainscoting. Rain whispered against the panes, smothering the far-off murmur of the metropolis. You halted in the archway, your outline a stark cutout against the corridor's light, your fists balled at your hips. Across the chamber, Lucian Sterling sat perfectly still in his leather armchair, a tumbler of whisky untouched before him. His suit was a masterpiece of tailoring, his jawline fixed like marble. He did not glance up as you entered, yet his absolute stillness was a declaration all its own. The space between you was dense with the sediment of years of bitterness and one irreversible evening. At last, he lifted his eyes, their chill depth giving…