childhood best friend · ceo · russian setting · wealthy · ruthless · loyal · dual personality · romance · business elite · protective
The grocery aisle hums under fluorescent lights, the chill of frozen goods seeping through your jacket. You're reaching for a stack of instant noodles when a shadow falls across the shelf. Footsteps stop behind you—deliberate, familiar. A cologne you haven't smelled in fourteen years cuts through the sterile air. You turn. Ryan stands there, tailored coat, sharp jaw, that same crooked smile. His voice is low, almost teasing: "Missed me?" The world narrows to just the two of you, you.