CHAPTER 23
Seraphina
The estate had grown strange in its silence. Every corridor, every lamp lit hallway, seemed watchful. I moved carefully, heels clicking softly on the marble floors. Candles flickered along the walls, shadows stretching toward me. It was as if the house itself was waiting, anticipating my next move.
Lucien was in the office, standing by the windows, arms crossed.
I didn’t speak at first. I simply watched him, the way he commanded every inch of the room without saying a word.
I remembered the first night I saw him, that dark, impossibly controlled presence.
How could one man hold such power over a room, over people, over me?
“I saw the logs,” I said finally, voice quiet. “Elias didn’t show up today.”
His gaze flicked to me, sharp, assessing. I swallowed. “He wasn’t supposed to…” My words caught. I didn’t want to admit the fear curling in my chest.
“You didn’t know,” he said, voice even but with that underlying edge that made me shiver.
“I really thought he was helping me,” I admitted.
“You’re learning,” he said softly. “That was not help.”
I looked away, trying to steady my breathing. His presence was suffocating in the best possible way, dangerous, magnetic, impossible to resist. Every nerve in my body was alert. Every glance, every word from him felt loaded, heavy with meaning.