Ava opened the door and stepped aside to let Damien in. The apartment was quiet and dim, with the soft hum of the fridge in the background and the gentle sound of rain still pattering outside. Damien stepped in slowly, water still dripping from his clothes. He looked around but didn’t say anything. Ava closed the door behind him.

“She will be asleep already,” Ava said in a low voice. “The babysitter would have left not long ago.”

Damien nodded once. His eyes searched her face for something like approval, maybe, or permission, but she looked away before he could find it.

“Come with me,” she said.

She led him...