Melinda didn’t sleep that night.
The image of Selene’s sharp smile haunted her, a phantom behind her closed eyes. James had held her hand on the way home, reassuring her with a quiet, tense strength but the silence between them afterward spoke volumes. There were things unsaid. Things Melinda couldn’t ignore anymore.
The morning light filtered through the large windows, golden and gentle, but it did nothing to ease the tightness in her chest.
James was already awake, standing shirtless by the window, coffee in one hand, phone in the other. His jaw clenched as he read something, and for the first time, Melinda noticed how tired his eyes looked. Not physically James Morrell never seemed physically tired. But emotionally? He looked like a man at war with himself.
She sat up in bed slowly,
