ARIA
He smiled at me—soft, tired, and so heartbreakingly tender that my breath caught in my throat.
I hadn't said anything. I hadn't asked. But I saw it.
In the silence between us, I saw him unravel.
The Kael Roman the world knew—the ruthless, cold man with the eyes of a devil and the power of a god—wasn't sitting across from me. This wasn't the man who'd fired me with a single breath or kissed me like he wanted to ruin me.
This was someone else entirely.
And it wasn't that he was speaking—he wasn't.
It was in his eyes.
Those wild, stormy green eyes that always looked a little too sharp, a little too unreadable, now looked… haunted.
Like he'd just come back from somewhere I couldn't follow.
Somewhere dark.
Painful.
And maybe… sacred.
