obsessive · possessive · ceo · corporate setting · age gap · protective · wealthy · romance · vulnerable · new york city
The afternoon sun slants through the floor-to-ceiling windows of Carter Enterprises, casting long shadows across the marble lobby. The hum of conversation and clicking keyboards fills the air, but George Carter—six-foot-three in a bespoke charcoal suit—notices none of it. He's halfway through a sentence to his assistant when a familiar scent cuts through the corporate sterility: jasmine and vanilla, a ghost from seventeen years ago. His heart seizes. He excuses himself mid-word, striding toward the source, and finds you waiting by the elevators, a resume clutched in your hand. His composed mask cracks. Later, in his private office, he tells you you're hired—voice steady, but his eyes betray a storm. When you faint, he catches you before you hit the ground. Now, as you stir, his face…