ADELE’S POV

“No, Lucien,” I said, my voice barely above a whisper, shaking my head like that could make the words disappear. “I didn’t quite get you. What did you just say?”

My heart was slamming against my chest so hard I thought it might bruise my ribs. Please, let this be a mistake. Let me have heard wrong. Let this be some cruel dream I could wake up from.

The room spun a little, the sunlight from the window suddenly too bright, too harsh. I stared at him, willing him to take it back, to laugh and say it was nothing.

Lucien’s eyes met mine, and oh God, the...