Alexander’s POV
Paris was loud outside my window.
Inside my head, it was deafening.
I stood alone in the quiet dark of the hotel suite long before dawn, the city still stitched with dying lights, my reflection faint in the glass. Below me, cars glided like slow-moving thoughts I couldn’t silence. Every tower, every street, every glowing corner of the skyline felt like a witness to a decision I had already made, yet was still terrified to execute.
Sonia slept behind me.
I didn’t turn to look at her this time, not because I didn’t want to, but because I already knew what I would see. Soft breathing. Calm. Trust. The kind of peace that only comes when you feel safe enough to let go of the world.
She trusted me now.
And that, more than anything else, was what made my chest tighten.
I h
