DAMIEN’S POV

She’d been quiet all morning.

Not the peaceful kind of quiet I liked—when she curled up somewhere nearby, reading or humming softly to herself while I worked. This was different. Heavy. Unsettled.

I felt it the moment I walked into my office and saw her on the couch.

Rose sat there with her legs tucked beneath her, fingers twisting together in her lap. She wasn’t reading. Wasn’t on her phone. She was just… staring. Not at anything in particular. Just lost somewhere far away.

I sat behind my desk and opened a file, forcing myself to focus. I had meetings lined up, contracts to review, people waiting on...