Aria could not sleep... Could not think, could not get her mind to wrap around the difference between Cole and Elias.
Either way, she knew she needed to go back again. For Elias.
Maybe it was her. Maybe it was Elias.
Maybe it was the soft way she’d left the last time—barefoot and wrapped in silence, feeling like a balloon Elias had carefully untied instead of popped.
She told herself she shouldn’t come again.
And then she found herself standing in the lounge, scanning the room for him.
Not Cole. Elias. And there he was.
In the same seat. Same black slacks. Different shirt—gray this time, sleeves still rolled. His hands were folded in his lap, not clutching a drink, just waiting. When his eyes lifted to hers, he smiled like he already knew she’d show.
“Aria,” he said as she approac
