By the time Val came back from Lucien's apartment, the sky had already started to dim. And even though she didn't get the full truth out of him—not the real version—she got enough for me to know something was wrong just by the way she walked in.
Lucien hadn't told her what he signed.
He hadn't told her who pushed it.
He hadn't even told her why.
But the way she described his reaction when she mentioned Benjamin Otavio?
The way she said his eyes dodged hers?
That told her everything she needed to know.
He was hiding something.
Something big.
Something he absolutely shouldn't have touched.
---
She barely slept that night.
And trust me, I noticed.
I always noticed.
She woke before sunrise, slipped out of the sheets like she was afraid her thoughts would spill onto me, and was halfway buttoning her blouse when I blinked awake and frowned at her.
"You're leaving already?" My voice came out rough, sleep-heavy.
