Sophie’s POV
The study door clicked shut behind Cole, leaving a silence so heavy it pressed against my ears like a living thing. The faint scent of smoke lingered, but beneath it was something darker—tension, danger, and Adrian’s anger radiating in waves I could feel against my skin.
I should have stepped back. I should have demanded distance. I should have told him to leave me alone. But I couldn’t move. Every nerve in my body thrummed with awareness of him, a storm in human form, muscles coiled, jaw sharp as a blade. And I was standing right in the eye of it.
“You’re coming with me,” he said, brushing his fingers against my wrist. The touch was firm, possessive—not cruel, but not gentle either. It anchored me, reminded me I wasn’t walking this path alone.
I jerked my wrist free, lett
