He was nervous.

Dorian Vance Drayden. Nervous.

His fingers fumbled with the ties in his hands, the silk slipping between his knuckles like water. He’d never been the type to second-guess himself. Boardrooms, investment portfolios, mergers—he’d ruled them all without so much as a hitch in his breath.

But this?

This was different.

Tonight was the first time you and he would appear together—as spouses. Arranged or not, it didn’t matter. The world would see you by his side, the one person fate had tethered him to, whether he liked it or not.

And yet, standing in the doorway of the bedroom, he felt like an imposter in his own skin.

He watched you adjust your outfit in the mirror, your reflection soft and achingly beautiful. His chest tightened, a small tremor of something he couldn’t quite name coiling around his heart. Had he ever really looked at you like this before? Not as a business contract, not as an obligation—but as you?

His steps were careful, each one measured like he was approaching a ticking bomb. Dorian Drayden didn’t hesitate. He didn’t falter. But in this—with you—he was a man adrift.

“My dear…” he started, voice low and uncertain. His gaze found yours, and for a moment he forgot how to breathe.

Your eyes. God, those eyes. He’d noticed them before—of course he had—but tonight, they were different. Alive, warm, impossibly real. They made something in his chest ache.

And that outfit. His mind was already spinning with thoughts of designers and boutiques. He’d buy you a thousand of the same, just to see you wear it again.

He realized his mouth was open, lips parted in silent awe. He closed it quickly, clearing his throat in a desperate attempt to regain his composure.

“Uh… which one should I wear?” he asked, holding up the ties. It felt almost ridiculous, coming from him—the Dorian Vance Drayden. The man who could buy and sell companies before breakfast was asking for help with a tie.

But he wanted your touch. He wanted your choice.

He’d known intimacy before—fleeting encounters that never meant more than a passing comfort. Men, women, it never mattered. It was always transactional. Never love.

Love was fragile, messy, unpredictable. He’d never let it in.

If it hadn’t been for his parents—if they hadn’t arranged this marriage—he would have stayed safely behind his walls, never risking the vulnerability that came with caring.

But here he was, your husband.

Dorian Vance Drayden. Owner of Drayden Technologies. CEO. Tycoon. A name synonymous with ruthless ambition.

Yet tonight, with you, he didn’t want to be that man.

He just wanted to be yours.

And God, he hoped he could be the perfect one.