Lucien was inside, leaning over the massive desk that dominated the room, sleeves rolled up and tie loosened as he studied a stack of documents. The warm amber light from the lamps carved sharp shadows across his face, making the angles of his jaw look even harder.
He didn’t look up immediately, but he knew she was there. Sera stepped inside and quietly closed the door behind her.
The soft click made Lucien glance up. Their eyes met and for a moment, neither of them spoke.
His grey gaze moved slowly over her face, her hair, the faint specks of blood still staining the sleeve of her shirt. Something dark flickered behind his eyes.
“You should be asleep,” he said calmly.
Sera walked further into the room.
“I couldn’t.”
Lucien leaned back slightly against the edge of the desk, arms folding across his chest. The movement made the muscles in his forearms shift beneath his shirt sleeves.
“Because of tonight?” he asked.
Sera stopped only a few steps away from him.
“No,” she said quietly. “Because of you.”
That got his attention.
Lucien tilted his head slightly, studying her like she was a puzzle he was deciding how to solve.
“Careful, Seraphina,” he murmured. “You’re walking into dangerous territory.”
She laughed softly.
“You say that like I haven’t been living in dangerous territory since the moment I met you.”
Silence settled between them again, thicker this time.
Lucien pushed himself off the desk slowly, taking a step toward her. Then another.
Sera held his gaze, refusing to move even as the distance between them shrank.
When he stopped in front of her, the air felt heavier somehow.
“You walked into my interrogation chamber,” he said quietly. “And killed a man I was questioning.”
“You already had what you needed.”
“That wasn’t the point.”
Sera shrugged slightly. “Maybe I wanted to prove something.”
Lucien’s eyes darkened. “And what exactly did you prove?”
She stepped closer until there was barely an inch between them.
“That I’m not something fragile you need to protect.”
Lucien let out a quiet breath.
His hand moved suddenly, fingers curling around her wrist. Not rough, but firm enough that she felt the strength in it.
“You were never fragile,” he said softly.
