Chapter 22He heard footsteps on the main staircase—lighter than the staff's, more hesitant. He glanced at Damien and saw him straighten almost imperceptibly, the working expression replaced by the slightly softer mask of the attentive husband.A minute later, Sadie appeared in the kitchen doorway.She was dressed simply—loose clothing that accommodated her bandaged side, her auburn hair pulled back without its usual careful styling. She looked tired, Derek thought. Genuinely tired, not the performed exhaustion of a woman maintaining an act. There were shadows under her green eyes that suggested her night had been as unrestful as theirs, and she moved carefully, one hand resting against the door frame for a moment before she pushed off from it."Good morning," she said, her eyes moving between them both. "I didn't know anyone else would be up yet.""My legs tend to wake me early," Damien said, and there was something so matter-of-fact in the way he said it—no self-pity, no invitation
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