Freddy’s POV

The mansion was silent, but my mind was anything but.

Aliana had been back for less than a day, yet everything felt different. I had expected something to shift between us.

After all, she had chosen me back in that bloodstained penthouse. She had kissed me in front of Viktor’s broken body.

She had come home with me instead of running. So why—why the fuck—was she still acting like she was waiting to leave?

I clenched my jaw, pacing the length of our bedroom. The tension between us was thick, the air charged with something neither of us wanted to name.

Aliana stood near the window, her arms...