The confrontation with Valentina still weighed heavily on Lexi’s mind. Though Julian had stepped in—calm, commanding, fierce in his defense of her—something inside her still felt shaken. She hadn’t expected that kind of venom from a stranger. And yet, it confirmed everything she feared about this world. Power brought envy. Attention brought enemies. And love, if it even existed in a place like this, was tangled in games she wasn’t sure she wanted to keep playing.
But Julian had barely said a word since they walked back into the hotel, his hand resting possessively on the small of her back as if to remind her, You’re mine. She didn’t know if it made her feel protected or claimed. Maybe both.
She expected him to return to work. Expected him to say he had another call or meeting, or one of
