Lyra's POV
It was still dark when I got back to the estate. The kind of dark that clings to your skin and makes the silence louder.
Leo’s men didn’t speak as I walked past them. Didn’t look at me either. Like they knew something I didn’t. Or maybe just didn’t want to admit they’d been told not to engage.
I entered through the side door, bypassing the main hall, taking the staircase I knew didn’t creak. My shirt still smelled like danger and the wrong man’s intentions. My hair was still messy enough to start a war.
I didn’t rush.
I wanted Leo to feel the wait. To sit in it. Drown in it.
But when I walked into the bedroom, he was already there,sitting in the chair by the window, arms crossed over his chest, a glass of whiskey sweating in his palm. He didn’t look up right away.
Just s
