Chapter 31

RAINA

Alex was still the arrogant ass I’d always known him to be. He saved my life, sure, and I should probably feel grateful, but I didn’t. I couldn’t. Not after everything. Not after the years of betrayal, heartbreak, and silence that had hardened me. So when he stood there, smug and confident as ever, and told me I owed him a date, I nearly laughed in disbelief.

The audacity.

I turned my gaze toward Dominic, silently pleading for some backup, a lifeline, anything—but to my growing irritation, he was staring off into space, arms crossed as if he didn’t want to get involved. 

“Fine,” I said finally, my voice low and begrudging. Each syllable was bitten off, sharp enough to cut. “But we’re not talking about anything from our past. The only topic you’re allowed to bring up is Liam. Nothing else.”

Alex smirked, his expression smug yet tinged with something softer. He leaned slightly closer, his presence overwhelming, as if he’d just won some monument