His key turned in the lock just as I finished pouring a glass of water.
The moment Damien stepped inside, I felt the shift—his presence always came like gravity, pulling everything in the room toward him.
His eyes lifted.
They scanned me.
Then the hallway.
“You had a visitor.”
Not a question. A statement sharpened to a blade.
I didn’t flinch. I took a sip of water. “Your ex-wife has good taste in timing.”
Every muscle in his jaw clenched. “What did she say to you?”
I smirked. “Nothing you haven’t already tried to warn me about.”
He stepped closer, each footfall deliberate. “I’m serious.”
“So am I.”
Our eyes locked. He was expecting fear. Or insecurity. Or something that proved his ex’s words had landed.
But I wasn’t giving him a single weakness.
“I handled it,” I said, voice
