EMBER’S POV

He’s quiet for a long moment. Something flickers through his eyes. Pain, maybe. Or fear. The shutters start to come down, that familiar wall rebuilding itself brick by brick.

“I don’t think I’d be a good father,” he says finally.

“Why?”

“The Volkovs weren’t exactly a stable family.” His voice has gone careful. Controlled. “Dysfunction runs in my blood. Literally. I’ve seen what happens when damaged people try to raise children. I refuse to continue that cycle.”

There’s so much more under those words. I can feel it. Decades of history I know nothing about.

“What was your family like?” I ask softly.

He chuckles, but there’s no...