007 | A Beautiful Stranger

Ethan’s POV

The drive from the airport to the Eternal Bonds Pack was a breath of fresh air, figuratively and literally. I rolled down the windows and let the crisp, autumnal air buffet me as I put my foot down.

The tension in my shoulders had drifted away the second I’d waved goodbye to Selene and Serena, dropping away fully as I’d watched their plane take off. Goodbye, stress. Goodbye pretending and preening and primping. Hello… I didn’t know what I was about to walk into, actually.

As much as I needed to be alone – so much so that I’d told my usual driver to take some time off while I was visiting Eternal Bonds, despite his stern frown at the thought of me driving myself around while I was there – it brought with it other complications. Not having my wife bleating at me meant that feelings I normally kept squashed rose, unbidden, to the surface.

I loved Selene. At least, I thought I did.

She was the only woman who’d ever shown me kindness. True kindness, anyway – not like the fake