Sera's POV
The drive home was quiet, but it was a different kind of quiet than before.
Not the suffocating silence of two people with too much to say and no way to say it. This was softer. More tentative. Like two wounded animals circling each other, unsure whether to fight or surrender.
Damon kept his eyes on the road, his hands steady on the wheel. He hadn't checked his phone once since we left the restaurant. A small thing, maybe, but it meant everything to me.
When we arrived at the villa, he followed me inside without a word. I expected him to retreat to his office, to lose himself in work or calls to the hospital. Instead, he walked to the kitchen.
"Coffee?" he asked, already reaching for the beans.
I stared at him, confused. "It's almost midnight."
"Decaf, then." A ghost of a
