CHAPTER 31
Seraphina
I did not sleep that night.
The rain had stopped, but the storm inside me raged on. Memories of my father, of Lucien, of the argument and the kiss, twisted together, leaving me dizzy and breathless. I felt the weight of everything I had lost and everything I had not yet understood pressing down on me.
I wandered through the estate, hands trailing along the walls, tracing the cold stone and polished wood, grounding myself in the familiar textures.
I passed the office where he had stood, staring at the city below, imagining me in his grasp, imagining the way he controlled everything around him, the fire in his hands, the obsession in his eyes.
I hated him for what he had done to my father. I feared him for what he could do to me, but I couldn’t deny the pull I felt, the undeniable magnetic draw of him.
I turned around and stopped before his office door, hand trembling on the handle. I wanted to confront him again, to scream, to argue, to test the fire between us but something, the memory of Ronan entering, the tension still lingering, stopped me.
I retreated into my room, closing the door behind me but even there, alone, I felt him. His presence, his obsession, his fire, and I realized something that I could not speak aloud, I was already burning.
Sleep never came.
I was awake for hours staring at the ceiling, watching the faint glow of dawn slowly creep through the tall windows.
My mind refused to rest.
Every time I closed my eyes I saw Lucien standing in that office again. The calm authority in his posture. The way his voice never wavered even when I shouted at him.
The way he had looked at me before he kissed me.
Not with cruelty, not even with triumph, but with something far more dangerous.
Certainty.
I turned onto my side, burying my face into the pillow as frustration tightened in my chest.
Why him?
Why did it have to be him?
Of all the men in the world, why did my body react to the one man responsible for destroying everything I had ever known?
The sky outside brightened slowly, pale silver light creeping across the room.
Eventually I forced myself out of bed.
The estate felt strangely quiet at this hour. Most of the staff had not yet begun their morning routines, leaving the long hallways wrapped in soft silence.
I moved through them slowly, barefoot against the cold marble floors.
The stillness gave me too much time to think.
Too much time to remember.
My father had walked these same corridors countless times. His voice used to echo through these halls during late night meetings with advisors and allies.
Now that voice is gone. The anger surged again, sharp and familiar.
I pushed open one of the tall glass doors leading to the gardens.
Cool morning air greeted me instantly.
The world outside looked washed clean after the storm. Dew clung to the hedges and flowers lining the pathways, and the faint scent of wet earth drifted through the air.
For a moment, the quiet beauty of it almost made everything feel normal again.
Almost.
I stepped onto the stone pathway and began walking.
Past the fountain.
Past the long hedges trimmed into perfect shapes.
Past the iron gate that overlooked the distant hills beyond the estate walls.
My fingers brushed the cold metal as I leaned against it.
The world outside these walls felt impossibly far away now.
Everything I had known was gone and I was left trapped in the orbit of a man who refused to let me escape.
A quiet sound behind me made my heart jump.
Footsteps.
Slow and controlled.
I didn’t turn immediately.
I already knew who it was.
Lucien’s presence was unmistakable.
It filled the air around him like gravity.
“You should not wander alone this early,” his voice said calmly behind me.
My hands tightened against the iron bars.
“I didn’t realize I needed permission.”
“You don’t.”
I turned then.
He stood a few steps away, dressed in dark trousers and a crisp shirt, sleeves rolled slightly at the forearms.
Even in the pale morning light he looked impossibly composed.
Untouchable.
My pulse betrayed me instantly.
“What do you want?” I asked.
Lucien studied me carefully.
“Nothing.”
I laughed bitterly.
“That’s hard to believe.”
His gaze softened slightly as he stepped closer. “You didn’t sleep.”
It wasn’t a question.
“No.”
“Neither did I.”
The confession caught me off guard.
For a moment neither of us spoke.
The air between us felt heavy with everything left unsaid.
“You shouldn’t have kissed me,” I said quietly.
Lucien’s expression did not change.
“No,” he said after a moment. “I should not have.”
My chest tightened.
“But you did anyway.”
“Yes.”
The honesty in his voice only made my frustration worse.
“Why?” I demanded.
Lucien’s gaze never wavered.
“Because I wanted to.”
The simplicity of the answer stunned me.
“You destroyed my family,” I said, my voice trembling now. “You killed my father.”
Pain flickered briefly in his eyes.
“I know.”
“And you think kissing me will change that?”
“No.”
“Then why?”
For the first time since I had known him, Lucien hesitated. Just slightly, but enough for me to notice.
“Because despite everything,” he said quietly, “you still look at me the way you did yesterday.”
Confusion flickered through me.
“What does that mean?”
Lucien stepped closer again, stopping just a few feet away.
“It means you feel it too.”
My heart pounded violently.
“That’s not true.”
He tilted his head slightly. “Then why didn’t you push me away?”
The memory hit me instantly.
The heat of the moment.
The way I had frozen instead of fighting.
My silence answered him.
Lucien watched me carefully.
“I am not asking for your forgiveness,” he said softly.
“Good,” I snapped. “Because you’ll never have it.”
“But one day,” he continued calmly, “you will understand.”
“Understand what?”
“That we were always meant to collide.”
The words sent a strange shiver down my spine. I shook my head quickly, stepping back from him. “You’re insane.”
“Perhaps.”
Lucien’s gaze remained steady.
“But you’re still here.”
The worst part, the most terrifying truth of all, was that he was right.