( Ava’s POV )
The house had gone quiet again.
After dinner, Lily and Jake disappeared upstairs, their laughter fading behind a closed door. Ava stood alone in the kitchen, hands braced on the counter, staring at the faint reflection of herself in the dark window. The world outside was soft with rain, streetlights blurring into gold halos on the slick pavement.
Her pulse still hadn’t settled.
Every word Brian had said that afternoon played over in her mind the low, controlled, possessive. The kind of tone that didn’t invite argument. It should have terrified her. It didn’t. It thrilled her. And that, more than anything, scared her.
She didn’t hear him come in.
“You’re shaking,” he said quietly.
Ava startled, spinning around. Brian stood in the doorway, his posture casual, his voice
