“Sweetheart,” Alpha Conrad’s warm voice called out sweetly into the phone. “Your mother and I were just talking about you.”
Giselle rolled onto her side, curling slightly as if that might somehow shrink the distance between them. The chatter on the other side filled her ear, and something in her chest cracked. “I figured,” she said with a small smile. “You always do.”
“We miss you,” he said simply. “The house feels too quiet without you. Even the staff keep asking when you’re coming back.”
Her throat tightened. She swallowed it down. “I miss you too, Dad. I really do.”
There was a pause. Not uncomfortable—never that with him—but thoughtful. “Then come home.”
She closed her eyes. “I told you, I just need some time away. A break. Everything is… too serious back home. I need air. And I w
