She stood directly behind me, and for a moment..she didn’t say anything. She just watched me, like she was studying something on my skin that I couldn’t see.
Then she lifted her chin and looked straight at Damian. “The party has already started,” she said, her voice smooth..but edged with something darker. A smirk pulled at the corner of her lips, small but full of meaning. “Without me?”
Damian didn’t answer right away. He just smiled. Slow. Controlled. But not the same smile he used with the guests. Not the one he used with me. This one was different. Colder. Tighter.
And in his eyes-in that brief moment when he glanced at her-something flickered. Something unsettled. Like a shadow cutting through firelight. Like a warning no one spoke out loud.
The air in the room shifted, growi
