Ashley wasn't sleeping. She lay still beneath the cool sheet, eyes open to the city's hush, listening as the drive way announced, him the way old houses announce weather.
A key turned. Leather met marble. He paused in the foyer like a man who needed one breath before he started being himself again.
He was tired. She could hear it in the way he set things down so they wouldn't sound like anger.
Footsteps climbed the stairs. The door eased open."Are you awake?" Julian asked from the threshold, voice low, careful not to disturb the room."Yes." No pretending.
She rolled to face him.
He crossed to her side and sat, the mattress dipping with his weight. He smelled like rain on wool and the last of a long day. He bent and kissed her forehead. No claim, no defense, just hello.
"Good," he said quietly. "Because I have something to tell you."Her pulse tripped. Confusion skimmed the surface of her calm. What now?
