Sonia’s POV
Paris still did not fade when morning came.
It only softened.
The light changed first, pale gold slipping through the curtains, quiet and shy, brushing the walls like a gentle confession. The city sounded different in daylight. Less mysterious. More honest. Like it was finally letting us see its face.
Alexander was still asleep when I woke.
He lay on his back beside me, one arm stretched where I had been moments before, his fingers loosely curled as if his body still expected me there. His hair was rumpled in a way I had never seen before, dark lashes resting against cheeks that finally looked unburdened by the constant weight of control he always carried.
For a long while, I only watched him breathe.
Slow.
Even.
Untroubled.
It struck me then how rare this must be for
