~Ronan~
The silence in my office is heavy, and suffocating, it feels like a hand against my throat. Below, the floorboards vibrate with the muffled roar of the club, the music, the laughter, the sound of men who don't have the weight of a dying legacy on their shoulders.
I sit behind my desk, staring at my hands. My knuckles are white, my fingers still tingling from the memory of her skin. In the hallway, when I grip her chin, I feel the heat radiating off her. I feel the way her pulse jumps under my thumb, like a plea that makes my wolf pace behind its bars, snarling for a release I can't give.
Valerie.
She is supposed to be the one part of my life that remains clean. After her father dies, I make a vow. I tell myself I will be the guardian, the man who checks their finances and pats
