The evening bled into night, but Isla couldn’t shake the feeling that the ground beneath her feet was crumbling, piece by piece.
Damien was trying too hard.
Too attentive.
Too careful with his words.
It was the kind of care a man showed when he was hiding something.
At dinner, he filled her plate before she could ask. He laughed at all the right moments. He kissed her knuckles like a lover hopelessly in awe.
And maybe once she would have believed it.
But not now.
Not when she could still taste the smoke of a lie she hadn’t yet uncovered.
***
Later, when Damien stepped out for a meeting with Gabriel and a few of their key allies to finalize summit arrangements, Isla slipped into his office.
She knew it was wrong.
Knew it was a breach of the fragile trust they had rebuilt.
But l
