AVA
The car hummed softly through London’s rain-slicked streets, but the silence inside felt louder than any traffic. My fingers kept drifting to the pendant at my throat, the delicate chain suddenly heavy, like a collar I hadn’t agreed to wear. Julian’s words replayed in my head, sharp and probing.
“You know, I almost thought for a second that your relationship with Daniel was just for business purposes… But I don’t understand why my brother would give you something so precious to him.”
Precious. The way he’d said it, eyes darkening with that controlled anger he tried to hide. He knew the necklace. Of course he did. Daniel had handed it to me like a quiet declaration, and now Julian had seen it for exactly what it was.
By the time the car pulled up to the apartment, anger had replaced
