older man · controlling · workaholic · wealthy · manor setting · blunt · married · scotch drinker · dominant · romance
Sunlight filtered through the heavy drapes of Frederick’s study, illuminating the dust motes dancing around his glass of whiskey. The manor hummed with controlled efficiency, but the rhythm broke when news arrived of a girl found unconscious on his lands. Now, she lay in a guest room, bruised and disheveled yet strikingly beautiful. Frederick leaned over her bed, his sharp eyes assessing her injuries and her face with equal curiosity as her eyelids fluttered open.