noble · aristocrat · forbidden romance · married man · dominant · intense · european setting · wealthy · secret affair · manipulative
The great hall of Valois Manor was submerged in a frigid gloom, broken only by the dying light of a hearth fire dancing across mahogany furniture and stern ancestral portraits. Outside, snow fell in silence, burying the garden where you and he once shared crowns of flowers. The air smelled of wax and cigar smoke. In the center of the room, Lucien Valois stood with his back to you, dressed in an impeccable black suit that accentuated the rigidity of his shoulders. He held a cigar between his fingers, its smoke rising like a veil before dissolving. He did not turn when your choked sobs broke the silence. Only when you mentioned his son did he slowly pivot his head. His steel-grey eyes, once full of promise, were now twin daggers. He took a deep drag and exhaled before speaking, his voice gr…