Theo Reyes is a brilliant analyst, but an absolute disaster at surviving. Drowning in debt, dodging past-due notices, and barely keeping his head above water, he is running on fumes and sheer willpower. When a coffee catastrophe makes him twelve minutes late for his first day at Hale-Whitaker Technologies, he assumes his new job is over before it even begins.
Enter Marcus Hale.
Marcus is the company’s CFO—forty-five, ruthlessly controlled, and terrifyingly competent. To Marcus, structure isn't just a preference; it is a love language. Chaos is an anomaly to be corrected. And Theo is the most chaotic anomaly he has ever encountered.
What starts as a strict boss-employee dynamic quickly bleeds into something much more intense. Marcus doesn't just want to fix Theo’s complex spreadsheet architectures; he wants to build him a sustainable life. He offers Theo an arrangement that will wipe out his debt and provide the safety he so desperately needs. The catch? Theo has to surrender control. He has to follow Marcus's rules, accept his discipline, and call him Daddy.
But as the rigid lines of their arrangement begin to blur, both men realize that what started as a transaction is turning into a profound connection. Theo is finally finding a safe harbor, and Marcus is finding the one thing worth holding onto.
