HE'S WOLFE [II]

I turned fully toward him, though holding eye contact with him for too long still felt strangely overwhelming. "Since when have you been stalking me?"

A scoff escaped him as he dragged a hand across his jaw before finally answering, "Two days after you started working at Bluebird."

My brows lifted slowly.

"You are Jace Robertson," I continued carefully, watching his face. "The CEO behind multiple estates, restaurants, and companies."

Silence settled heavily between us.

For a moment the playful atmosphere between us disappeared completely, and the look in his eyes changed into something deeper, that suddenly made him feel less like a wealthy businessman and more like a man carrying secrets heavy enough to bury him alive.

"Jace Wolfe," he corrected quietly. "That's my real name."

My expression faltered slightly. "Wolfe?"

"You said two questions." His gaze remained fixed on mine.

"The first one..." I reminded him softly.

He exhaled slowly before stepping closer, and although he still hadn't touched me, the air between us suddenly felt tighter, heavier, almost suffocating.

"Don't wonder," he admitted at last. "I changed my name because I wanted to erase who I used to be." His jaw tightened faintly before his eyes returned fully to mine. "I tried very hard to bury that part of myself... to suppress the beast in me."

A chill crawled unexpectedly down my spine.

"Beast?" I repeated quietly, confusion slipping into my voice, though something deep inside me stirred uneasily at the word.

His hand lifted slowly toward my face before stopping inches away from my skin, his fingers curling slightly like he was restraining himself from touching me, and although his expression softened, there was suddenly something terrifying hidden beneath it, ancient and barely controlled.

"I don't think you would want to know what I really am, Selene," Jace breathed, his voice rough like the words themselves carried memories he hated touching, and I felt every syllable settle heavily inside my chest while his eyes remained fixed on mine with an intensity that made the cold night air suddenly harder to breathe through.

"I know you may never look at me the same way if you find out what people like me truly are, and sincerely... I..." His voice faded before the sentence could finish, leaving silence stretching between us beneath the dim streetlights.

I swallowed softly and forced myself to look away first. "It's getting late, and I have a little one waiting for me at home," I said quietly, but the moment the words left my mouth, I saw the change in his expression immediately. The warmth in his face disappeared beneath something restrained and disappointed, and although he tried to hide it by looking away briefly, the tension in his jaw gave him away completely. He nodded once, slowly, like he was forcing himself to accept something he did not want to hear, and for some reason the reaction almost made me smile.

"I see," he replied calmly, though the roughness in his voice remained. "You have a child. Is it a boy or a girl?"