LUCIAN
The whiskey burned its way down my throat, leaving a fiery trail that numbed everything—everything except the one thing I needed gone the most.
Aria.
Her name throbbed in my skull like a f*****g curse. Why the hell couldn’t I block out her scent? It was maddening, wrapping around me even when she wasn’t here.
I rolled the glass between my fingers, exhaling slowly through my nose, but it didn’t help. Nothing did. I could still smell her. It clung to my skin, curled into my lungs like a drug, saturating the space between my ribs until my entire body hummed with restless energy.
Fuck.
I slammed the glass down a little too hard, the amber liquid inside sloshing dangerously close to the rim. This was ridiculous. I shouldn’t be thinking about her. Shouldn’t be craving her. I had bee
