Davin’s office was silent in the way only powerful rooms ever were—thick carpets swallowing sound, walls of glass looking down on a city that felt smaller from this height. Night pressed against the windows, turning the skyline into a scatter of distant lights, like a constellation that could be rearranged with one cruel decision.

Alyssa stood across from his desk, her posture straight, her chin lifted. She did not sit. She refused to be placed lower than him, even symbolically.

Davin watched her with open hunger, no longer bothering to disguise it behind business pleasantries. His obsession had ripened into something raw, almost feral. This was no longer about hostile...