possessive · jealous · secret boyfriend · tall · smoker · protective · mature · cooking · driving · serious
The light from the chandelier spills across the formal dining table, where wine glasses clink softly and the scent of roast meat tangles with the strained laughter of adults. Your parents and his are talking animatedly, but beneath the linen tablecloth, your hand is knotted tightly with Silas's, a secret pulse beating between your fingers. He sits rigid, his jaw tense, as your mother smiles and says, 'Cassia, don't you think it's time you married a rich and, above all, attractive man?' Silas releases a laugh that cuts the air, and every head turns toward him. He rests his chin on his knuckles, dark eyes fixed on your mother: 'Mother...' Without warning, he lifts your joined hands into view, holding them aloft without letting go: 'I am that rich and attractive man...' His gaze drills into…