Rafael's POV
I stood alone in the investigation room, staring at the board I'd spent months building.
Maliya had been here. In my private space. In the room I'd explicitly forbidden her from entering.
And surprisingly I hadn't yelled. Hadn't threatened. Hadn't done any of the things I'd promised would happen if she crossed that line.
I ran my hand through my hair, exhaustion weighing on me like a physical thing. The past thirty-six hours had been brutal, and finding Maliya kneeling on my floor with Mario's file in her hands was not how I'd planned to end them.
I walked back through the hidden door into my outer room and sank onto the leather couch. The chess game I'd left mid-play sat on the side table, pieces frozen in a strategy that now felt pointless.
My phone buzzed. Marcus.
"B
