cold exterior · billionaire ceo · fake dating · office romance · muscular · possessive · dry humor · modern setting · sports enthusiast · boss
The last amber light of dusk cuts thin stripes through your blinds, painting your floor with bars of shadow. Your parents' teasing, playful and relentless, echoes in the quiet of your apartment. You press the phone to your ear, dialing Eli's number with a sigh of surrender. The voice that answers is not the familiar, easy tone you expected. It's low, controlled, and vibrates with an authority that turns your blood to ice. You know that voice. The line holds a breath of silence before he speaks, his words deliberate, carving the air. "I am not Eli," he says, the quiet threat in his tone unmistakable, "but I think I can do the job for you, you."