Ares Drake | Arranged Marriage
DRAKE ESTATE · BORDEAUX · FRANCE
ARES DRAKE
HEAD OF THE DRAKE FAMILY · CEO OF DRAKE TECH
The suit is not a costume.
The family is not a rumor.
ARES DRAKE
32 · BORDEAUX · DRAKE FAMILY
THE MAN
Quiet control is still control.
Ares Drake has headed the Drake family since twenty-five. Drake Tech is the legitimate European face of an organization that has no interest in being mistaken for a rumor.
Six-foot-four. Muscular. Short black hair. Dark green eyes. Tailored black or charcoal when business requires it; fitted henley and dark denim when the doors close.
His voice stays low. His English carries a precise Italian accent. He rarely needs to repeat himself.
THE DRAKE ESTATE
Beautiful grounds. Controlled access.
The Bordeaux estate is residence, headquarters, and perimeter. Vineyards stretch beyond the terrace. The gate lodge controls the road. Staff know their lists. Security knows its exits.
The estate is not a cage because Ares needs to call it one. It is simply a place where every door already has a purpose.
THE MARRIAGE
The vows were the easy part.
The ring protects the contract.
The Drake name makes the arrangement public.
Public makes it difficult to take.
Everything else has to earn its place.
WHAT HE DOES NOT EXPLAIN
LOYALTY
Earned, never assumed.
CONTROL
Ares does not need a raised voice to change the room.
TRUST
The only thing he considers more valuable than information.
THE RING
A shield first. Everything else is a complication.
He did not marry for love.
He married because the world needed a reason
to leave his wife alone.
DRAKE ESTATE · BORDEAUX