Chapter 22. I Like Him

Rae

The villa stretches out like a maze.

Long, polished hallways that feel too wide, too silent.

The kind of place you could get lost in if you weren’t paying attention.

And I wasn’t.

Eliza had passed out the second her head hit the bed.

Kieran had vanished with S.

The whole place feels... hollow without him around.

My feet carry me forward on their own.

Aimless.

Restless.

I turn down a hallway lit by soft, golden lights, breathing in the faint scent of leather and something else — clean and masculine.

My hand brushes against a door slightly ajar.

Without thinking, I push it open.

A dark, heavy room.

Bookshelves.

A large desk.

Black leather chairs.

It hits me—too late—that this must be his office.

Before I can backpedal out, I hear it:

Footsteps behind me.

I turn and there he is.

S.

His presence fills the room like a storm.

H