Aurora’s POV
“You’re not going alone.”
Sebastian says it the second I lower my phone. I look at him. “That wasn’t a request.” “No. It wasn’t.” The room goes quiet around us.
Mercer Studio: Of all the places Damien could have chosen, he picked that one. The first room where I ever let him stand behind me while I worked. The first room where he learned how easy it was to praise me just enough to make me hand him more.
He didn’t pick it because it was convenient; he picked it because he knows exactly what that place means to me. “He wants me off balance,” I say. “He wants control.” “Same thing.”
Sebastian doesn’t argue. He steps closer, not enough to crowd me, just enough to make it clear he is done pretending this is a discussion we are both leading. “You are not walking into a closed s
