a tool of expression and release, had become an instrument of suffocating pressure. The weight of the

aos brewing within her. There was a stillness to the moment, a silence that matched her growing sense of uncertainty. She had thought

hone

aiting for yo

into the storm she had been trying to steady. She didn't reply. She didn'

he had found herself in was far from over and this time, it wasn't just about the secrets he carried. It was ab

e morning light play over the skyline. His heart was a mess of contradictions part fear, part hope, but mostly a burning need f

sion hanging between them like a third, silent presence. She looked at him, her eyes search

r words were more than a greeting; they were an invitation. An invitat

carefully constructed around himself seemed to crumble. His voice was hoarse when he

g me anywhere, Damian. I chose to b

gap, her heart pounding in her chest. She didn't understand it, not completely, but she knew what she felt. She had seen the

ath apart. The world outside-the city, the noise, the dangers lurking in the shadows

ching out, hesitating just before it touched her

hed up and placed her hand on his chest, feeling the steady rhythm of his heart under her palm. His words had unsettled her, but not for the reasons he might have

lightly. "You don't get to decide what you deserve. Yo

r a moment, he simply stared at her, as thou

eep control of everything my company, my life, my past. I don't know how to

She had always seen the strength in him the sharp edges, the towering walls. But in this moment, she saw

ou. Not because of your past, or your company, or anything else. I want to be

ngers trembling as if the simple touch was something he had longed for but feared

s next," he confessed, his

t of everything he had been carrying. And yet, there was also something else in his tou

oice thick with emotion. "But maybe t

rst, hesitant but filled with a deep, unspoken promise. It was a kiss that spoke of healing, of understanding,

e heat of his body, the tension that had been between them, unraveling. And for the first t

tting go. But when they finally broke apart, their foreheads resting

are we?"Ava asked, he

ly, his voice steady. "We

calm inside the walls of Cross Tech's penthouse. But inside, two hearts had found