Arianna’s POVThe city felt louder than I remembered.Not in volume.In weight.Everything moved too fast here. Cars, people, lights, voices. Even the air felt like it had somewhere to be.Unlike the island.There, time stretched itself out like it didn’t care whether you kept up or not.Here, it demanded you keep up or get left behind.Aiden’s hand rested lightly on the small of my back as we stepped out of the car.It wasn’t forceful.Just guiding.Still, I noticed it.I always noticed him now.That was new.The building in front of us belonged to him, or one of his companies, or maybe both. I still hadn’t fully learned how many things had his name quietly attached to them.Everything about him was like that.Quiet ownership.Unspoken control.But not over me.Not exactly.At least, that’s what I kept telling myself.Security moved ahead of us first, scanning, checking, confirming. I watched them work without thinking too much about it.I had stopped asking questions about their rou
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