Chapter 54: The Unspoken Ache

Ezra's POV:

The heavy doors of my office had clicked shut behind me that night, a sound that sealed her in, and, I realized now, sealed me out. In the days, weeks, that followed, the silence from Davina was a colder, more potent weapon than any scream. She was back in the penthouse, under my watchful eye, ostensibly safe. But safe from me? That was the question that clawed at me, day and night.

She moved through the vast, opulent spaces like a ghost. Her initial terror had solidified into a chilling, unwavering resolve. She kept herself meticulously out of my reach. When I was in the living areas, she was in the library or the assigned office space I'd had set up for her. When I went to the gym, she would be gone, presumably in her room. Meals were a silent, agonizing ballet of avoidance. Her eyes, when they met mine, were devoid of the fire, the anger, the warmth that had once burned there. Now, there was only a stark, blank wall, or a flicker of revulsion she quickly masked.

She was