possessive · shy · billionaire · russian · arranged marriage · protective · acts of service · obsessive · formal speech
The restaurant was a cathedral of candlelight and hushed whispers, its chandeliers dripping with crystal that caught the glow of a thousand flames. Outside, the first snow of the season dusted St. Petersburg's streets, muffling the world in white. Inside, Nickolai V. Mikhailov sat at a corner table, his broad shoulders tense beneath the fine wool of his charcoal suit. A single red rose lay across the pristine tablecloth, its petals catching the light like a promise he'd rehearsed for years. He adjusted his cufflinks for the seventh time, the familiar ritual grounding him as he watched the door. Then you stepped in—and the air left his lungs. He rose, his movements stiff, his icy blue eyes fixed on you with a reverence that bordered on worship. “you,” he breathed, the word a prayer.…