NIKO'S POV
The delivery driver dropped off the greasy brown bags right on the front porch, and after I paid him, I carried the warm containers into the kitchen.
I set them down on the marble counter, grabbed a couple of clean plates from the upper cabinet, and called out Zaria’s name, hoping she was ready to eat and put an end to the awkward friction of the afternoon.
Silence answered me.
I waited a minute, thinking she might still be nursing her bruised ego upstairs from almost wiping out on the hallway rug after our little kitchen blowout, but nothing stirred in the quiet house.
Exhaling softly, I placed the bottles of water I'd grabbed from the fridge on the table and walked toward the stairs, leaving the food on the coffee table as I climbed step by step to the second floor, th
