The sky had dimmed to a soft gray, casting long shadows across the Laurent estate as Anastasia and Taylor stepped out of Logan's mansion. The afternoon combat training had left Anastasia sore, her muscles aching in places she hadn't known existed. Her palms were slightly bruised, her pulse still catching up from all the rigorous self-defense drills, but none of that compared to the weight pressing against her chest.
Taylor's words clung to her like a thorn in silk.
_"Dante has a very dark side. He isn't who he pretends to be."
She hadn't dared ask him about it. Not when he sat just a few feet away, calm, collected, and unreadable. Instead, she stared through the tinted window of the backseat as the luxury vehicle pulled out of the mansion's gates. The silence between them was loud, thick, and heavy.
