_Rowena’s POV_
Alaric was many things.
Both powerful and intelligent. The kind of man who moved pieces on a board three steps before anyone else noticed there was a game being played.
But he wasn’t as unreadable as he thought he was. Not to me.
The last time we had dinner, I sat across from him and listened to everything he said. I nodded in the right places. I smiled when it was appropriate. I was gracious and warm and exactly what the moment asked for.
And the entire time, I was watching the gaps between his words.
He cared. That part was real. I didn’t doubt that. The texts, the guards he’d moved through the network, the way he’d handled Kaelen’s meeting without me ever asking him to. Yes, he told me that part. And that wasn’t performance. That was genuine.
But th
