Alec’s gaze finally landed on Melissa.
She stiffened under the intensity of it. He said nothing, but his eyes lingered—not on her eyes, but on the corner of her lips where a few cinnamon bun crumbs clung like innocent evidence. She had tried to hide the bun behind her back, but the quiet guilt was loud enough. Alec’s cold gaze swept over her face with detached calculation, then dropped away as if she were unworthy of his attention in that moment.
He didn’t say a word.
Instead, he turned his attention fully to the long marble counter where an array of homemade dishes had been lovingly arranged. Steam curled upward from hot dishes, the aroma of spices and sweetness mingling into something that could almost be called… nostalgia.
His steps were measured. Slow. The silence in the kitchen wa
