FAZER LOGINAlicia's POV His arm was across my waist when I woke. The room was grey with early light, the city outside still quiet, the type of quiet that belongs to the hour before a place fully commits to its day. I lay still for a moment. The weight of his arm. The warmth of the room. The dress lying acros
Her hands moved from my shoulders to my face, her palms cupping my jaw, her thumbs stroking my cheeks. It was a gesture of such unexpected tenderness it nearly undid me. Her eyes, dark and dazed, locked onto mine. In them, I saw not the woman I had wronged, but the woman I was with, in this moment,
Her hand anchored hard against the back of my head, fingers tangling in my hair, holding me exactly where she needed me. For a moment, I wasn't the man who had failed her. I was just a man giving her pleasure. She said my name once, twice, the third time broken completely, and her whole body arched
Edward's POV Her mouth was on mine when I got the door open. I walked her backward into the room, the city lights filtering through the window in thin strips that barely illuminated the space. Her hands were already at my collar, working open the buttons of my shirt with an urgency that sent a jol
Alicia's POV The restaurant Edmund had not arranged. Edward had seen it from the car on the second day and remembered it. No assistant. No agenda attached to the table. We walked there. He asked about Lily before we reached the first corner. "Is she still seeing the cardiologist every three mon
I ordered wine. The work wasn't finished. The room was quieter. She took the glass without comment. Drank. Set it down and kept writing. She spoke about the eastern corridor communities directly, without framing or adjustment, as if they existed in the room with us. Her hand moved as she talked, m
The estate gates opened before I reached them. I drove through. The guard stepped back. I didn’t look at him. The driveway curved through the grounds. Trees lined the edges. Grass cut to precision. The fountain ran as always. Lights were on in the east wing. Vivienne’s wing. Seven-thirty. She was
Alicia's POV Daniel returned to his seat beside me. Edward's chair stayed empty. Three minutes became five. Five became ten. By the third minute, someone made a joke about the restroom line. Polite laughter rippled through nearby seats. By the tenth minute, conversations had restarted. The tabl
Alicia's POV Monday didn’t start with a sunrise. It started with the blue glow of Elena’s phone in my face. "Ali. Wake up." Her voice was tight. Strained. She was already dressed in a black blazer. Coffee steamed on the nightstand. She wasn’t looking at me. She was staring at her screen, pale in
When did I stop being yours? Board members were engaging her more than they were engaging me, asking her questions, listening when she responded with that sharp intelligence that never needed charm to make its point. Daniel navigated the room with quiet authority, steering every exchange without e







