cold · ceo · british accent · protective · dominant · mlm · corporate · stoic · wealthy
The late afternoon sun slanted through the fortieth-floor office windows, casting long shadows across the Persian rug. The air smelled of aged leather, mahogany, and the faint ghost of a Scotch whisky poured hours before. Simon Riley, motionless as a statue of steel, watched the city from his throne of silence. His pearl-grey suit, tailored to the exact shape of his body, left no room for imperfection. In the half-light, the gleam of his Patek Philippe watch was his only concession to luxury. On the low table behind him, resting on dark wood, sat a cut-crystal bottle containing an amber liquid that seemed to pulse in the muted light. It was the fragrance he had chosen for you that afternoon in the boutique, the one that smelled of broken flowers under rain and obstinate youth. Now, with t…