The night felt colder than usual as Elena stood by the tall glass window in Adrian’s private penthouse, watching the city lights flicker like dying stars. Sleep had refused to come to her. Her heart was too restless, her mind too loud. Everything around her had changed so quickly she could barely breathe. Trust had become fragile. Love had become risky. And danger had settled itself deep in their lives like an uninvited guest.
She could still feel the ghost of Adrian’s touch from earlier, when he had held her after the explosion in the safe house. She remembered the look in his eyes when he thought she was hurt, the raw panic he could not hide. That moment had shaken her. It reminded her that beneath the cold exterior he forced the world to see, he was a man who feared losing her. Yet she
