The drive back from the date was quieter than usual Nikolai had one hand on the wheel the other resting lazily on the gearshift but his eyes kept darting toward her.
His mood was unreadable half amused half dangerous as though he already knew what was stirring inside her.
For Liora it was a battlefield in her chest. Every laugh they had shared during the date still clung to her like perfume soft and intoxicating. Yet beneath it all guilt gnawed at her ribs like a parasite.
She was not his fiancee She was not his confidante She was an infiltrator living on borrowed time a woman ordered to seduce and betray him.
And still… she could not deny the warmth she felt whenever he looked at her like she was his only truth in a world full of lies.
By the time they reached his penthouse, night had swallowed the city whole The glass towers shimmered with neon reflections but the suite at the top floor belonged to them alone sealed off from everything.
