Modric’s POV
I woke before Mary Ann.
For several seconds, I did not move.
Morning light slipped through the curtains, falling across the bed and the woman sleeping beside me.
My wife.
The word should not have felt new.
Mary Ann had legally been my wife for a long time.
But this morning, it did.
She was lying on her stomach, her face turned toward me, one hand beneath the pillow and the other resting between us. Her hair was everywhere.
I smiled.
Then memory arrived.
Our first wedding morning.
I had not woken beside her.
I had not even slept in the Luna Wing.
I had spent our wedding night with Velvera.
By morning, Mary Ann had been alone in a bed prepared for two people.
I remembered returning later.
I remembered avoiding her eyes.
I remembered behaving as though she was t
