Certain.
Too easy.
Something in his voice splits my chest.
Not hopeful—
Open.
This isn’t heat.
This isn’t hunger or darkness pulling bodies together in secret rooms.
This is worse.
Heavier.
It settles inside me like something alive.
Breathing.Watching.Waiting.
Attachment.
The most dangerous word in any language.
Attachment is leverage.Attachment is vulnerability.Attachment is how you get buried in this family.
My fingers curl tight against the door.
My pulse drums like a warning I don’t know how to read.
Whatever is growing between us—
It isn’t soft.
It isn’t gentle.
It’s a blade wrapped in velvet.
And I want it anyway.
Which scares me more than any threat ever whispered inside a Rivas war room.
I lean forward until my forehead rests against the steel.
Let my eyes close.
On the other side of this wall is a man who would tear worlds apart for me.
On this side—
A woman who came here to bring blood and truth and fire into his life.
And I still can’t say it.
Not tonight.
Not when his hand is this steady.
