Chapter 10: Cracks in the Ice

By the time the clock showed past midnight, I gave up on sleep. I slipped on a robe over my nightdress and went downstairs to the kitchen. Mrs. Hale had shown me where everything was, and I figured making coffee couldn’t hurt. Maybe it was stupid, trying to be nice after everything. But sitting alone in my room with my thoughts felt worse.

The kitchen was dark and quiet. I turned on the small light above the counter and started the coffee machine. I poured a cup and took a deep breath. My hands shook a little as I carried the mug upstairs toward his west wing.

I stopped at the edge of the forbidden area. The door to his study was slightly open. I could hear the low sound of typing on a keyboard. Before I could chicken out, I knocked softly.

“Come in,” his voice came, sharp and tired.

I pushed the door open. Lucian sat behind a desk, laptop open in front of him, sleeves rolled up. Papers were scattered everywhere. He looked up when I entered, and his eyes narrowed.

“What are you doing here?” he asked.

I stepped closer and held out the mug. “I made coffee. Thought you might need it since you’re still working.”

He stared at the cup like it was a trap. For a second, I thought he might tell me to leave. Then he reached out and took it. Our fingers brushed. Neither of us pulled away right away. My breath caught.

Lucian’s jaw tightened. He finally took the mug and set it on the desk. “You don’t have to do things like this, Aurora,” he said, his voice lower now. Not angry exactly, but rough. “I’m not your responsibility.”

“I know,” I replied, standing there awkwardly. “I just… it’s late. And you looked tired at the gala. I couldn’t sleep anyway, so I figured why not.”

He leaned back in his chair and ran a hand through his hair. “You should be sleeping. Not wandering around my wing at this hour.”

“I wasn’t wandering,” I said quietly. “I was trying to be civil. You know, since we’re stuck together now. Or is that against your rules too?”

Lucian looked at me for a long moment. Something in his eyes shifted. Not quite soft, but less cold. “You’re not stuck,” he muttered. “You’re here because this was the best option for everyone.”

“Best for everyone?” I let out a small, bitter laugh. “My family couldn’t wait to get rid of me. You treat me like I’m an inconvenience most of the time. How is this the best option?”

He stood up slowly and walked around the desk. I didn’t step back. We were close now, close enough that I could see the faint lines of exhaustion under his eyes.

“You have no idea what your family is really like,” he said. His voice was quiet but firm. “Or what I am. Just… stay in your lane, Aurora. It’s safer that way.”

There it was again. That word, safer. The same thing Evelyn kept saying. I wanted to ask him what he meant, but the look on his face stopped me. Instead, I nodded.

“Okay. Goodnight then.”

I turned to leave, but his hand caught my wrist gently. Not hard. Just enough to stop me.

“Thank you for the coffee,” he said. The words sounded like they cost him something.

I looked up at him. For a second, our eyes locked. “Goodnight, Lucian,” I whispered.

I walked out of his study and back to my room, heart beating too fast. That small conversation, those little touches, they shouldn’t mean anything. But they did. I lay in bed wondering if his coldness was really just a mask. If underneath it, there was something else. Something that made my skin tingle every time he got close.

Lucian’s side (internal)

I watched her leave the study, her robe swaying around her curvy figure. I looked at the coffee, no one had done something like that for me in years without wanting something in return.

“Fuck,” I muttered, setting the mug down harder than I meant to.

I sat back down and pulled up the security feed on my laptop. The library camera. There she was earlier today, curled up in the armchair with a book, looking small and lost but still so damn beautiful.

I clenched my fists on the desk. This was not supposed to happen. I agreed to the marriage to get her away from Reginald and that toxic house. Evelyn had begged me years ago, fed me the truth about her parentage. I planned the bankruptcy pressure. I wanted to rescue her.

But now she was here. In my house. With her innocent eyes and that body that made me lose my mind every time she walked past. I was supposed to protect her. Not want her like this.

I rubbed my face and closed the footage. But the image of her stayed burned in my mind. Her smile when she handed me the coffee. The way her fingers felt against mine.

This obsession was getting dangerous. And I wasn’t sure how much longer I could fight it.

Aurora’s POV

I woke up the next morning and went downstairs for breakfast, half expecting him to ignore me again. But Lucian was already at the table. He looked up when I walked in.

“Morning,” he said. Short. But not as cold as usual.

“Morning,” I replied, sitting down across from him.

Mrs. Hale brought food. We ate in silence for a while, but it wasn’t completely uncomfortable this time. I caught him watching me once or twice. Not with anger. Just… watching.

I wanted to ask him more questions. About why he agreed to this marriage. About why Evelyn thought I’d be safer here. But I held back. One small step at a time, I told myself.

As I finished my coffee, Lucian stood up.

“I have meetings today,” he said. “Stay out of trouble.”

Before he left, he paused at the door. “And Aurora… thanks again. For last night.”

Then he was gone.

I sat there for a long time, staring at his empty chair.

The devil I married was starting to feel a little more human.

And that scared me more than his coldness ever could.