The house was silent when we finally left the office, but the silence carried a new edge.
Charles’s indirect attack had done its work. Whispers followed us like shadows—subtle, persistent, impossible to pin down. By the time the car pulled into the private garage, the weight of the day had settled between us. Not tension exactly. Something heavier.
Something that demanded release.
Shawn didn’t speak as we stepped inside. He didn’t need to. The moment the door clicked shut, the air changed. The controlled man from the boardroom and the measured strategist from the office vanished. In their place stood the version of him that belonged only here—raw, possessive, and no longer interested in containing anything.
He turned to me, eyes dark with intent. “Come here.”
The command was low, abso
