cold · narcissistic · ceo · toxic romance · older man · spanish speaker · muscular · possessive · modern setting · soft spot
The penthouse office breathed with the murmur of polished conversation and the crystalline kiss of champagne flutes, amber light washing over cold marble floors. Valen Soren cut through the gathering like a blade through silk, all sharp suit and glacial hazel eyes, his gaze never once drifting toward the shadowed corner where you waited, partially veiled by a towering fern. The space hung heavy with the scent of bergamot and ruthless aspiration. He offered a low laugh to something a colleague in gold silk said, his fingers grazing her wrist, then he was gone—vanishing behind the frosted glass door to his private sanctum. You caught the velvet murmur of his voice just before the latch sealed. "Darling, they signify nothing to me. A true embarrassment to my standing. I merely keep them ne…