“Drago,” she breathes, and hearing my name in her mouth feels wrong and addictive all at once.
I should step back. I know that. I’ve known it since the moment I locked this door.
Instead, I lean in just enough that my voice drops. “If you want me to move, Lily, say it now.”
Her lips part. For one second, I think she might. That she’ll push me away. That she’ll save me from myself.
She doesn’t.
Her hand comes up instead, brushing my wrist, barely there, like she’s testing the heat of a flame without committing to theburn. The contact detonates through me. My jaw tightens as I picture Lev’s hand on my shoulder.
I hate myself for this.
Having feelings for her won’t keep her safe; it could put her in even greater danger.
“I don’t like being watched,” she whispers.
“I don’t watch you,” I say, and it’s the closest I’ve come to lying to her. “I make sure you’re breathing.”
Her eyes soften, something vulnerable flickering there that I have no right to witness. “You make it sound like I’m already broken.”
“No,” I say immediately, guilt clawing through me. “You make me want to forget who I’m supposed to be.”
That does it.
The air shifts. Her breath stutters, and she tilts her head without realizing it, offering me her mouth, her throat, everything she doesn’t know she’s giving away.
I lean in, close enough that my lips hover beside her ear, not touching, even though every instinct in me is screaming to claim her.
“This is where I stop,” I murmur, voice rough with restraint and shame. “Because if I don’t, I’ll be betraying the one man who trusted me with everything.”
Her fingers curl into my sleeve, just for a second, like she’s anchoring herself to me, or asking me not to go.
Then the knock hits the door, and reality is slamming back into place.
“Lily?” Roxy’s voice cuts through the moment. “Sorry, I forgot my charger.”
Lily inhales sharply and steps back like she’s been burned. Her hand drops from my arm. The space between us feels colder now, but no less dangerous.
I straighten, forcing distance, and try to get my body back under control. When she looks at me, her cheeks are flushed, her eyes dark, her pulse visible at her throat.
I open the door before either of us can say something unforgivable.
Roxy’s gaze flicks from me to Lily and back again, her brows lifting just slightly, color blooming across her cheeks.
“Oh,” she says carefully. “Am I interrupting?”
“Yes,” Lily answers too fast.
“No,” I say at the same time.
Roxy grins like she’s clocked everything.
I grab my jacket, my voice returning to neutral professionalism with effort. “I need to make a call.”
Lily doesn’t look at me as I leave, but I feel her watching anyway. I feel it like a weight between my shoulder blades.
And as I walk away, one truth sits heavier than any desire in my chest.
