LOGINCallum POV I had been running on work and nothing else since the morning I walked out of Nadia’s apartment. Deliberately, with full awareness of exactly what I was doing and why. The hotel’s soft launch follow-up needed attention. Expansion planning needed attention. New investor meetings needed scheduling, then rescheduling, then scheduling again when timings changed. I stacked everything back to back, leaving no gaps anywhere in my days where my mind could drift somewhere I had no intention of letting it go. Mara noticed. I could see it in the way she looked at me sometimes, a half second longer than she needed to, clearly deciding whether to say something about it. But she never pushed. I appreciated that more than I knew how to tell her. ~~~ I was in the middle of a call in my penthouse that evening, standing near the window with my phone pressed to my ear, when the intercom buzzed. I ignored it. Whoever it was could wait five minutes. It buzzed again. Longer this time.
Nadia’s POV The heavy click of the lock closing behind him resonated through the apartment. The exact second the door shut completely, I fell apart. It wasn't a loud, dramatic crying fit. There was no screaming. It was just a sudden, total collapse. My legs gave out entirely beneath me, sliding down against the face of the kitchen counter until I was sitting flat on the hardwood floor, my knees pulled up to my chest, my coffee mug still somehow clutched tightly in my shaking hand. The hot liquid sloshed over the rim, burning my fingers, but I didn't care. I pulled my knees tighter and whispered, “I’m sorry,” to the completely empty apartment. Nobody answered. There was nobody there to answer me. I was entirely alone, exactly the way I had engineered it to be. ~~~ I sat there on my kitchen floor for a very long time after that. The morning progressed, the pale strips of light shifting across the wood. My coffee had long gone completely cold, a dark skin forming over the top, but
Nadia’s POV Not because anything about it was funny. He laughed because he simply didn’t believe me, not for a single second. The sound was dry and incredulous. “No,” he said, taking another step closer until he was nearly touching the edge of the counter separating us. “It wasn’t a mistake, Nadia. And you know it wasn't.” I braced myself, pulling my robe tighter around my neck. “I don’t want you walking away from this apartment this morning with the wrong impression. Whatever had happened between us last night was just a momentary lapse in judgment, and it can’t become something bigger than it already is.” I needed him to understand that the boundary was back up. That’s when he finally said everything he’d clearly been holding deep inside his chest for months. “I’ve spent months pretending I didn’t miss you,” he said, his voice cutting through the space between us. I stayed completely quiet, my chest already tightening so hard it felt like my ribs were snapping. “I did,” he co
Nadia POV I woke up first the next morning, the early light coming through my curtains in soft, pale strips across the ceiling. For a few seconds, in that hazy space between sleep and being fully awake, I genuinely forgot where I was. My mind was floating in a warm, heavy fog, and my body felt completely relaxed in a way it hadn't in a very long time. Then I felt the massive radiating warmth beside me. I turned my head slowly, the fabric of the pillowcase scraping softly against my cheek. Callum was still asleep. He was lying on his stomach, one large arm stretched completely across the mattress toward my side, his dark hair a complete, wild mess from the night before. His face looked calm in a way I hadn’t seen in months. It was unguarded. He looked completely at peace. I allowed myself a few seconds to just look at him. I watched the steady rise and fall of his broad back, breathing in the scent of him that now completely covered my sheets… champagne, clean sweat, and that disti
Callum’s POV I reached up and brushed a strand of hair behind her ear. “I’ve missed you,” I admitted. She smiled, a little sadly. “I know. I’ve missed you too.” She leaned forward first this time. Our kiss was slow. Careful. Almost hesitant, like we were both asking the same unspoken question without actually saying it out loud. She laughed softly against my mouth. “What?” I asked. “Nothing,” she whispered. “I’m just… happy you’re here.” I rested my forehead against hers. “So am I.” When I kissed her again, she answered without any hesitation at all, her arms slipping around my neck as mine found the small of her back. The champagne glasses sat completely forgotten on the coffee table. The city lights beyond her windows blurred into soft gold as we slowly made our way down the hallway together, neither of us rushing, neither of us looking away from the other. Our lips never parted. We clashed together against the narrow wall of the hallway, a breathless, desperate sound t
Callum POV I sat alone in my penthouse that evening, the city lights spread out below me in every direction, and found myself turning the same question over and over in my head, refusing to let it go no matter how many times I tried to set it down. Was there a version of this where I still got to be part of whatever came next in Nadia’s life? I didn’t have an answer. But I had stopped pretending I didn’t want one, which felt like progress. I thought about what I had seen outside the showcase. Nadia, getting into Richard’s car. I had stepped outside to go get my own car, fully intending to drive her home myself, to spend just a little more time with her before the night had to end. But by the time I came back around, Richard had already beaten me to it. Already opening her door for her. Already guiding her toward his car. I told myself it meant nothing. Richard was family. Richard was a good man, genuinely, one of the only decent people that family had ever produced. He had prob
Ariel stood outside Professor Julia’s office, completely still. The muffled sounds of their argument from behind the closed door felt like distant thunder, making her nerves jumpy. Her hand trembled slightly as she reached for the doorknob. She cleared her throat softly, then pushed the door open an
Ariel stirred against the pillow, her skin still clammy from the fever that had kept her curled up in bed last night. The small, damp cloth that had been resting on her forehead had become a little dry and slipped down as she slowly opened her eyes. The ceiling fan spun gently above, and for a momen
As she stepped out into the cool night air, he leaned forward and kissed her cheek. “I’d love to do this again.” he said, hopeful in a way that made her stomach twist from guilt. Ariel hesitated. “Ethan... I appreciate tonight. Really. But I don’t want you to get the wrong idea. I’m not looking fo
Ariel stood outside the gym, her arms were crossed tightly against her chest as if shielding herself from the world. Her clenched jaw told everyone to stay away… unless they were Stacy. “You're super pissed at me, aren’t you?” Stacy said cautiously as she came out of the gym and walked towards her







