LOVE ME LIKE A CURSE
“You are its pulse, its future. Each of you is more than your role, more than your hours. You are the reason this empire stands."
His gaze moved across the room, slow, unhurried. When it passed over me, my chest locked.
For one impossible second, I could’ve sworn his eyes—darker than midnight, rimmed with something that felt older than time—lingered on mine.
Then they moved on, leaving me shaken.
Maya’s nails dug into my arm. “Oh my God,” she whispered. “He’s… unreal, and so handsome.”
I couldn’t answer.
Lucien continued, speaking of vision, of strength, of loyalty.