Chapter Thirty-Nine

Astrid knew trying to get Dahlia out of Darius’ hands would trigger both of them waking up at the same time, and there was only so much she could handle, so she decided to have a few minutes – possibly hours – to herself.

She found herself joining the staff in the kitchen to make breakfast, pretending not to hear when any one of them told her not to worry about it.

“Good morning, sir!” Her back stiffened as they all chorused loudly in unison just mere minutes after she walked around, finding something to busy herself with.

She turned around and found Darius at the entrance to the kitchen, holding Dahlia who was still asleep.

Darius nodded at the staff, never taking his eyes off Astrid, whose throat was in knots. She kept swallowing, even when there was nothing in her mouth to swallow.

“Good morning,” she greeted, her voice cool and relaxed in its early morning state.

“Good morning,” Darius replied as the staff went back to work, each one of them visibly nervous with Darius’ pres