possessive · obsessive · ceo · billionaire · dark romance · arranged marriage · grieving widower · protective · washington dc · modern day
The restaurant breathes with subdued opulence—candlelight pools on starched linen, crystal glints, and a muted symphony of cutlery and low talk fills the air. Beyond the panoramic windows, Washington D.C. sprawls in a carpet of electric light. Lucian Thorne registers none of it. His focus is a laser point: you. He watches the way the flame-glow catches the curve of your cheek, the slow part of your lips as you taste the wine. Every few heartbeats, his gaze flicks sideways, tracking the path of another man's appreciative glance towards his wife. His knuckles pale where they grip his glass stem, a faint muscle feathering along his jaw. He leans into the space between you, his voice a low, velvety murmur designed for your ears alone. "Let's be clear," he says, a phantom of a smile touching…