I woke to sunlight slicing through the blinds, warm across the sheets where Adrian’s arm still draped over my waist. His breathing was slow and even against my neck, like nothing had changed. Like the night before had stitched us back together.
For a stupid moment, I let myself believe it.
Then the ache between my thighs reminded me of the gentleness, the way he’d cleaned me without hesitation and held me until I stopped shaking. My eyes burned again, but I swallowed it down. I couldn’t afford to fall apart now, not with Nikolas’s text still unread on my phone, not with the photo of my mother and that cryptic note *She loved you first* hidden in the nightstand drawer.
Adrian stirred. His hand tightened briefly, then relaxed. He pressed a kiss to my shoulder. “Morning,” he murmured, voic
