Chapter 34 The Sweet Trap

Vampire Queen’s POV

Leo chose a well-known café to meet. Street-facing windows, fake brick walls, and the kind of chairs that sink a little too low when you sit. A place meant to make people feel at ease.

I let Alicia’s face smile, let her hands curl naturally around the warm cup in front of me. He’d ordered for both of us—black coffee, no sugar, no cream. Still pretending not to be the kind of man who studies every reaction, but I knew better.

He was watching.

“So,” I said lightly, glancing down at the odd device poking out from the side of his messenger bag, “is that your phone lighting up or something else?”

Leo didn’t move at first. Then, slowly, he looked down. The screen wasn’t lit now, but it had been flickering every few seconds earlier—pale green to amber, pulsing faintly.

He slid the bag slightly under the table. “It’s nothing,” he said.

“Nothing?” I tilted my head, giving him just enough curiosity to sell it. “It looked like it was glowing.”