Cole smirked, leaning back. “We’ll see.” He dismissed them with a flick of his hand, as though they were pawns on a board already in motion.
As they stepped out of the office, Selene exhaled the breath she didn’t realize she’d been holding. “He doesn’t trust you,” she whispered.
Adrian didn’t look at her, his voice clipped. “He never has.”
But Selene could see more than he admitted. For the first time, Cole had voiced his suspicion out loud—linking her presence to Adrian’s choices. And though Adrian stood strong, Selene knew Cole’s eyes were on her now, just as much as they were on his son.
And in this world, Cole’s attention was as dangerous as a gun pointed at your head.
---
The city was loud, but Viktor always heard the silence beneath it.
He sat in the corner of a dim apartment,
