~Lucien~
She was still shivering.
I could see it in the slight tremor of her shoulders, the way her fingers flexed at her sides as if she didn't know what to do with them. She thought she was hiding it well but I'd spent too many years reading people to miss the signs.
She was terrified, and she was doing everything in her power to make sure I didn't know it.
Fascinating.
I released her hand and stepped back, giving her the space she clearly needed but would never ask for. The contract sat on my desk between us, and I found myself studying her face as she stared at it.
She looked worse than she had last night. The powder she'd applied couldn't quite hide the puffiness around her eyes, and there were shadows beneath them that spoke of hours spent crying instead of sleeping. Her borrow
