(First-person POV – Mio Lockheart)
The morning sunlight leaked in through the tall windows of the Lockheart family villa, but it didn't warm me. Not with the way Claude was acting lately. Not with how he kept switching his style, his tactics, and his ridiculously seductive schemes that should be illegal in at least twenty states.
I had to escape.
Again.
"I'll be going out for a walk," I said casually, slipping on a hoodie and sneakers as quietly as I could.
Claude, who had been lounging on the couch while reading some obscure historical book (because of course he reads), looked up with a smirk. His eyes glinted in a way that made my skin prickle. He was planning something. Again.
"Oh?" he drawled, stretching like a lazy cat. "Need company?"
"No thanks. I'm trying to clear my head." Away from you, I added silently.
He chuckled. "Alright. Be safe. Try not to miss me too much."
