ia's

er heels off by the t

to her like a second skin, hair in a loose knot, staring

King Debuts Stunning

Charit

And how did she tam

ack or Calcul

onto the cushions be

n shift. Narrative momentum. She was a st

dn't feel l

ike vulne

d the fake compliments, she'd started feeling l

he moment he t

clenched when Ce

ice had dipped

in a long time, I do

't just

re. A glimmer o

cared her more-that Maddox mea

oughts. Her apartment was quiet, the kind of curated calm she usuall

t-event ritual-and stared out the window at the city ligh

the next phase of the campaign. Or maybe c

k in a loop of what t

one perfectly-

composed, compelling. Even warm, in rare flashes

he'd prot

om, Emilia had expected Maddox to shut down. Instead, he had st

she thought now. Not

ed her more t

e reins of narrative. But when Maddox had looked at her like t

buzzed b

that better than I

punctuation.

an a paragraph from most men. He didn't wast

he didn'

en a door. And she wasn't sure she

of the dress, pulled on an old

ep was

n circles ar

ust a

just

a story we

ye

the ceiling, heart racing for reasons

started out as a

a question she didn

e wors

sure she