Chapter Seventeen: Dust and Desire

Victor was supposed to take me home. Just ten minutes, he said, one quick meeting. That was over an hour ago. He kissed my cheek, looked happier than I’d seen him in days, maybe because of the sex we just had. He had disappeared down the hall with a swagger in his step.

Now I was pacing the upstairs hallway like a restless ghost, heart stuck somewhere between dread and desire. The Wolfe estate was too silent, too still. Everything here felt expensive and lifeless, like even the air was trained to behave.

My house was a bit warmer. Human.

I wondered what it had been like growing up here, especially if you weren’t really wanted.

With nothing else to do and nowhere to be, I wandered.

Room to room. Until I found it.

The door was slightly ajar, the brass knob cool beneath my fingers. Something in my chest tightened, a pull I couldn’t explain. I stepped inside.

It smelled of old wood, dust, and time. Stale memories.

Killian’s room.

Of course it was his. I didn’t need anyone to tell me.

The