The clone didn’t sleep.
She sat behind reinforced glass in the private chamber Alina had converted beneath the penthouse. Her eyes never closed. Her breathing never shifted. She watched the world with mechanical calm—until Alina entered.
Then she smiled.
“You came back.”
“I always come back,” Alina replied coolly.
“You shouldn’t.”
Alina pressed a code on the control panel. The glass shimmered—now one-way, now off. She let the clone see her. All of her. The black silk dress she wore like war paint. The bite marks on her shoulder, bruises on her hips. Nicholas’s love written into her skin like obsession.
The clone blinked. “He still makes you feel alive.”
“He reminds me that I am.”
“I could take him,” the clone whispered.
Alina smiled darkly. “Try.”
Upstairs, Nicholas stood shirtl
