Cleff’s POV
She laughed and it shook me.
I heard it across the garden wall, light and carefree...Niina rarely laughed like that, at least, not around me.
And definitely not because of me.
I lingered in the shadows beneath the cedar tree, watching her and Zack. They looked… good together.
Too good.
The sapphire bracelet shinned on her wrist as she brushed her hair back, her eyes were glowing beneath the soft garden lights. He leaned close and whispered something, and then she tilted her head toward him like gravity favored him now.
I should’ve walked away.
But I didn’t.
Couldn’t....
For months, I told myself I was just her protector. Leena had ordered me to watch over Niina, and I followed the assignment like every other silent, precise and detached.
But somewhere along the way,
