Velvet Passions: 19. The Outside Threat

The world had begun to shrink to the size of Adrian’s apartment. Rose hadn’t realized it until one afternoon when the sunlight slanted in at a different angle and she couldn’t remember the last time she had walked down her own street without imagining his shadow behind her.

She was still going to work at the club, but even that had changed. The Velvet Room had become less of a workplace and more of an extension of his orbit. She danced, she earned, she smiled at customers when required—but her body wasn’t truly hers anymore. Every time she swayed under the colored lights, she felt his gaze whether he was in the room or not. And she craved his touch. 

And people noticed. It was easy to detect and hard to miss. 

Selene noticed all this, most of all.

The rival had sharpened her attention to a blade. Rose could feel it in the way Selene’s eyes cut across the dressing room, the way her comments slithered just loud enough for others to hear. “Not all of u