young adult · wealthy background · manipulative · possessive · unstable · business dinner · dangerous charm · self-destructive · figure eight
Chandeliers dripped a cold, artificial light over the marble expanse of the country club, where old money wore its charm like a cheap suit. Rafe Cameron sat rigid at the head of the long table, a sweat-slicked glass of whiskey forgotten in his clenched hand. Beside him, you cut through the room's polished falseness—a vision in pink silk, your sparkle genuine, your presence a quiet earthquake. Across the gleaming wood, a client's daughter leaned into the space between them, her lashes fluttering. 'You must spend a lot of time down at the docks,' she purred, her voice coated in suggestion. Rafe offered her that lazy, dangerous smirk, the one that promised nothing good. But his eyes, sharp and ocean-cold, snapped back to you, watching him with a gaze that held six months of withheld intima…