Chapter Nine

The next morning, the world feels wrong.

Too loud. Too bright.

I brush my teeth twice. Wash my face with freezing water. Even swipe on lip balm just to feel human. But none of it works. The mirror still reflects a girl who couldn't sleep. Who said the wrong name in her sleep? She made a mess of everything she was trying to keep tidy.

I sit at the vanity table in my room, we came back from the hotel a while ago. The distance from the hotel to our penthouse wasn't long, but it was late already, so we had to spend the night there. The room Kairo insisted I stay in after I moved into his penthouse. Not that he said anything, he just had the staff set it up like it was mine, and I didn't argue. I was grateful for the space. For the silence.

But last night, the hotel emergency changed all of that.

One bed. One room.

And a single word spoken in the dark that pulled the world off its axis.

Noah.

I squeeze my eyes shut and inhale slowly. Why did I say his name? Why now? Why… when Kairo was just inches away?

I thought I'd buried those memories. Thought I'd outgrown them. But last night, all it took was a dream and a soft mattress to peel back the years and expose the bruises I'd covered with work and sarcasm and distance.

And Kairo heard it.

He heard it.

I remember his voice, controlled, low, but sharper than I'd ever heard it before.

"You said his name. Twice."

It wasn't anger, not really. It was something deeper. Raw. Unspoken.

Possessiveness?

Jealousy?

I'm not even sure he realizes it himself.

But I felt it.

And it scared me. Not because I didn't want it, but because I did. Because some tiny part of me wanted Kairo to care. Wanted him to feel something for me.

And that's dangerous.

Because this isn't a real marriage.This is business.Strategy.Convenience.

Right?

I shake my head, dragging my fingers through my hair.

I can't fall into this trap. Not when I'm still haunted by someone else. Not when the past is still whispering in my dreams. I need clarity. Control. Not men with unreadable eyes and quiet power.

Kairo has been… kind, in his cold way. Protective when he doesn't realize it. Distant, but never cruel.

And somehow, he's still gotten under my skin.

The sound of soft footsteps draws my attention to the hallway.

He's awake.

I hear the low clink of a coffee cup. The shuffle of shoes. Silence, then the sound of the balcony door sliding open.

I tiptoe toward the doorway and peek out.

Kairo stands there, sleeves rolled up, coffee in hand, staring out at the skyline like he's trying to control the whole city with just his gaze.

He doesn't look like a man who's losing sleep over dreams or names said in the night.

But I know better now.

His silence is never empty. It's layered. Wound tight.

And last night… I saw one of the layers crack.

I step back before he sees me and close the door quietly.

Noah left me once. Promised to return and never did.

Kairo never promised me anything. He married me with eyes wide open and made the rules clear from day one.

And yet…

There's something in the way he watches me. Listens to me. Holds tension in his jaw when I speak about the past.

He cares.

He just doesn't know how to say it.

And I don't know what to do with that.

Because I'm starting to care too.

Too much.

Too fast.

Too deep.

And if I'm not careful, I'll end up tangled between two men, one from my past and one who's still very much here.

Watching.

Waiting.

Burning slowly.