The night air was crisp, cool enough that Malia’s bare arms prickled as she stepped onto the balcony. Below, the luxury estate buzzed with laughter, music, and the clinking of champagne glasses. The gala was in full swing, a stage of power and glitter, but up here it felt almost quiet.
She’d followed Kieth, not because he asked her to, but because he had looked back once—just once—and something in his eyes had pulled her along like gravity.
The sky was ink-black, the kind of darkness that swallowed everything but the lights strung across the manicured gardens. And then—
A burst of color exploded across the sky. Red, gold, green, raining sparks down in shimmering trails. Fireworks.
Malia blinked, momentarily lost in the display. The noise, the rush of it, the fleeting beauty. She hadn’t
