The night air was still piercing when I turned my body, facing the source of the voice that called my name with far too much familiarity.
"Valerie?"
Daniel Carter stood under the streetlamp. The yellowish light fell across his jawline, sharpening his expression, flat but… intense. Too intense for someone I had only met twice.
I forced my professional smile.
"Oh… Mr. Daniel. What are you doing here?"
He didn't answer my question at all.
He just stepped closer, one step, his eyes scanning my whole face as if analyzing it.
"Your name…" his voice dropped, slower. "Valerie? Or Emily?"
My heart sank.
Sebastian immediately stepped half a step forward, inserting himself between us like a mid-level bodyguard.
"Ah! That's just my nickname for Emily," he said quickly, grinning but his voice tense. "Because she looks a lot like my old friend. Valerie… Hudson."
I almost choked on air.
Hudson??
Why did he use some random name like that??
