Julian’s POV
The office felt like a tomb tonight, very quiet.
Only the city lights bleeding through the half-open blinds and the cold glow of my monitors kept the dark from swallowing everything.
I hadn’t bothered turning on the big lights in hours. I didn’t want to see my own reflection in the glass.
The air was thick with smoke. My smoke.
One cigarette after another, the filters crushed in the ashtray until it looked like a tiny graveyard.
Every drag tasted like ash and old regrets.
The dragon ring on my right hand caught the red cherry every time I reached for the whiskey bottle, glinting like it was laughing at me.
I was halfway through the bottle now. Maybe more.
Didn’t matter. The burn from drinking had stopped hours ago.
James had dropped the file on my desk this
