Chapter 68: The Pushing away

Lucien didn't let go.

Even as the city pulsed beyond the glass windows of his office, he held me tightly, as if afraid I'd vanish. His body was tense, his grip firm—but beneath it, I felt something deeper.

**Fear. Guilt. Uncertainty.**

“I can’t lose you, Lila,” he murmured, his breath warm against my skin.

I pulled back slightly, enough to look into his eyes. “Then stop pushing me away.”

A muscle in his jaw twitched. “I don’t want you caught in my darkness.”

I cupped his face, my thumbs brushing against the stubble on his cheeks. “Lucien, I don’t care about the darkness. I care...