art hammering against my

ing the mug down wit

No one except my driver knew I

g room into the hallway and saw a

ng to his forehead, and his hands were tucked into his pockets like he had all the time in t

brow. "Didn't me

are

p, rough like gravel-smoo

place. The storm out there is crazy. I'm

I don't live here. I just ne

the rain falling behi

I said, surpri

d once.

m a gust of cold air and something else-something heavier.

d around

to his chest. There was something untamed about him, like he belon

na," I sa

at me. "Pr

nk y

the fire, crouching beside it, feeding more w

was here and somehow

side him, the silence bet

been running," he said

to the fire

idn'

added. "Some guy

mething like that. More like

darkened. "I kno

*

hat danced against the log walls. Outside, the

pulled up to my chest, while Luca sat at the edge, ho

took a sip. It burned down my th

the rim of the bottle as I passed it back to him. "Not just runnin

ore answering. "More t

stoppe

uilt, anger, a few things

a sharpness to him-jaw tense, eyes distant-but

rried in five days," I

a brow. "S

rger. No love, just expectatio

you

r

ra

feel brave. It feels like drowning but

ething I couldn't quite

ry only fools chased," I added. "That m

ead. "And what

e never really been in love.

e seen

ed like a weig

h caught

. "I see you, Selena.

throat. No one has ever said that to m

o much coming from a

ot wearing a mask li

silence rich and heavy. It wasn't the k

separating us now. I didn't realize how fast my he

ng on a life of its own. His hands cradled my face like I was something fragile, something rare. And yet, w

nds found my skin. Mine fisted i

ch cushions. His we

have st

ving behind. But all I could feel was him and for the first time in m

*

a's

e night my life split in two. Damien's voice still echoed in my head-calm, calculated, and shameless-when I walked into

night, something inside me broke, something I never quite rec

enci, his

l in a quietly devastating way, always with that porcelain-perfect expression. But something in her eyes

it was the fire that never really died, but something twisted i

to lose somethin

ood. Within days, I had details: Selena's routine, h

ed cabin in the mountains. A p

t her to sleep with me. Then, I'd have the ultimate revenge

y of that abandoned cabin, I for

tal

kled between us and something loosened in her shoulders. She told me

't know

ened to stumble into her hiding place. A

dn't think she meant to show-her impulsiveness

t what I

was

member. All I know is that her lips were soft and hesitant, like she didn't know if she was allowed to want thi

ally found the one person who saw me-not the Luca everyone whispered abou

hes hit

d in that moment, I kn

she was a person. I

I di

curled into mine like she trusted me, like I

't know

, I know everything we

o walk away