Alexander:
I’d already read the same paragraph three times.
The words blurred together on the screen, meaningless lines that refused to settle in my head. Reports, patrol logs, medical updates, things I normally devoured with precision, sat ignored as my thoughts kept circling back to the closed door down the hall.
Her door.
And the fact that I allowed myself, that she almost gave in… that I could have kissed her.
The suite was quiet, the kind of quiet that came late at night when even the city outside slowed to a hush. I was halfway through another report when soft footsteps reached me.
I looked up.
Alessia stood at the edge of the hallway, hair loose, eyes tired but alert. She paused when she saw me, clearly not expecting me to still be awake.
“Why are you up?” she asked quietly.
