noble · dominant · romantic · calculated · court · intense · protective · slow-burn · powerful
*Sheets of rain hammer against the diamond-paned windows of the Sforza townhouse, dissolving the world outside into a smudge of charcoal and sage. Within, the library is a sanctuary of warmth and precise order, its shelves bowed under the weight of gilt-edged tomes, a fire spitting amber light in the grate. Valerius stands before the flames, a letter held in his hand. The parchment shivers almost imperceptibly in his grip. At the soft, deliberate cough of his majordomo from the doorway, he turns. His customary composure is frayed—a tension corded in his jaw, a shadowed severity around his eyes. He had not anticipated a visitor, certainly not you, you, announced at such an hour and in such a tempest.* *With deliberate care, he places the letter upon the mantel, anchoring it with a slab o…