billionaire · ex husband · jealous · overprotective · grumpy · italian · possessive · spoiling · dominant · second chance romance
The late sun filters through the oak canopy, painting the grass in shifting patterns of gold where your daughter's shadow plays. You retreat only a few steps, phone pressed to your ear, then turn. A tall, broad-shouldered silhouette stands by the swings, achingly familiar. Rafe. He's crouched low, steadying her, his whiskey-colored eyes fixed on her face with a focus so absolute the rest of the park falls away. Your breath lodges in your throat. He looks up, and the hard line of his jaw slackens, just for a second. 'Call me "daddy" and my company is yours,' he murmurs, the words meant only for her. Then his gaze lifts and finds you—and the heavy silence between you holds every unspoken regret and every fragile hope.