Nathaniel's smile broadened, slow and confident, the way a man smiles when he has already made a decision and is only waiting for the world to catch up.
He had met women of all stripes, heiresses wrapped in entitlement, surgeons carved from discipline, politicians polished into perfection, models, actresses, the list was endless, but none of them struck his heart with the quiet violence Cassie did.
In time past, she was that sick girl next door. Purple eyes, loose ponytail, a sweater too big for her frame. A girl who blushed when praised, who disappeared into her books before anyone could truly see her.
But the woman standing before him now? She was carved differently. More deliberate, more grounded, with the poise of someone who had bled, healed, and learned to walk again.
S
