The house was quiet.
The kind of quiet that only came late at night, when the twins were asleep, the staff had left, and the world outside had settled into stillness.
The only sound was the low murmur of a movie playing in the home theater. The oversized leather couches, the dim lighting, the scent of popcorn lingering in the air—it should have been comfortable. Relaxing.
But nothing about being alone with Sebastian was ever that simple.
Isabelle stretched out on the couch, one leg tucked beneath her, a glass of wine in hand. She could feel the exhaustion in her bones, the weight of a long day pulling at her limbs. Across from her, Sebastian sat in his usual relaxed sprawl, a tumbler of whiskey balanced on his knee.
Neither of them had spoken much since the movie started. They didn’t
