LUCIEN’S POV

I sat on the edge of the bed, elbows braced on my knees, staring at the floor like it might give me answers if I looked long enough.

Behind me, Adele slept facing away from me.

She hadn’t said a word after I stopped. Not one. She’d just turned away from me, pulled the sheet around her shoulders, and I’d heard it—the soft, broken sound she tried to hide. Her crying. Quiet. Careful. Like she didn’t want me to hear how badly I’d hurt her.

I heard it anyway.

Every second of it tore something out of my chest.

I'd reached for her, desperate to hold her, to...