Mag-log inAurora POVI sit in the lecture hall with my notebook open and my pen resting uselessly between my fingers.The professor’s voice washes over me without meaning. Words drift past but my gaze keeps sliding to the window toward the outside world where everything that matters is happening without me.D
My chest tightens.“There you are,” he says as his gaze instantly finds me.“Here I am,” I smile as I cross the room to him, feeling drab in my school clothes next to him. “Where else would I be?”His hand comes to my waist like it belongs there—because it does. When he looks at me, the weight of ev
Aurora POV The hotel room smells faintly of oud and sandalwood, the most trendy and expensive perfume of the moment. This is the kind of place that knows it’s expensive and doesn’t let you forget it.I sit cross-legged on the edge of the bed in jeans and a sweatshirt, my dress hung carefully so it
Aurora POVThe coffeehouse smells like burnt espresso and pastries, like safety in the form of routine.I sit in my usual corner between classes, my back to the brick wall, the small round table pressed close enough that no one, not even my usual friends, can slide in uninvited. I am too distracted
Then she looks past Dominic and the body to the other older man standing waiting, his face full of resigned dignity so unlike what had been Francesco’s final moments.“Can Gianna’s father live?” she asks hoarsely, her soft voice barely reaching him across the empty space of the warehouse.The words
Aurora POVGianna is finally still.The pill I offered her dissolved beneath her tongue, and within minutes the sharp edges of her panic soften. Her lashes flutter as she slumps against the pillow, breath evening out, the fight draining from her limbs.I brush her hair back from her face with shakin
Aurora sees the full shape of the decision he’s made, the ruthlessness of it, and she doesn’t flinch from the implications. She works through them and accepts them with a calm that’s surprising.There’s a steel in her he underestimated. A razor-edged logic that does not erase her gentleness but sits
I take a slow breath and gather my courage and meet Hale’s gaze head-on.“Professor, I’ll request it again, and I think it’s fair.” My voice is steady, which surprises me. “Please don’t display my sculpture on its own. If you put it out, show it with the others. Don’t make it seem like I’m being sin
Dominic POVDominic listens in tight-lipped silence as Romero relays Gianna’s latest report.Camilla is still scheming,The information shouldn’t surprise him but something in Romero’s tone confirms it’s worse than before. More desperate. More reckless.He studies Romero’s face the way he would any
Dominic POVDominic watches Aurora from across the living room, jaw tight, hands buried in his pockets because if he doesn’t restrain them, he’ll march across the room, pick her up, and lock her somewhere safe where he can see her.Instinct yanks at him like a physical tug. Keep her close, keep her







