Chapter Eighty-Four
*Morning After*
Alexander woke up to the sharp smell of cheap hotel coffee and the unfamiliar weight of a headache. Sunlight sliced through a gap in the heavy curtains, landing directly on his face. He groaned, shifting on the stiff mattress.
His eyes opened, and the reality of the room crashed into him. This wasn’t his apartment. A man’s dress shirt was tossed over the back of a chair. His own trousers were in a heap on the floor. And there, a flash of pale pink silk on the faded carpet—Saphira’s underwear.
The memories of the previous night flooded back in a sickening rush. The club, the fight, the dark alley, the frantic, desperate collision against the cold brick. Guilt, sour and heavy, settled in his stomach, thicker than the hangover.
The bathroom door opened
