The streets of Tokyo were quieter now, the late hour thinning the crowds. Neon reflections shimmered on the wet pavement, casting fleeting colors over Elisia and Liam as they walked in silence.
Elisia kept her hands in her pockets, her mind replaying the moment in the park—the closeness, the touch, the words he had left her with.
"I’m afraid of what happens if I don’t."
It had felt like an admission, like a thread unraveling in a man who never let himself come undone.
She snuck a glance at him. Liam walked beside her, his expression unreadable, his gaze forward, his body language composed. But there was tension in his jaw, in the way his hands flexed before curling into fists.
He was keeping himself in check.
And that only made her want to push him further.
Elisia had spent months s
