Sunlight filtered weakly through the rain-streaked windows the next morning, doing little to warm the heavy silence that had settled over the Maple Lane house. I woke to Elias’s body curled tightly around mine, his arm locked across my waist in that familiar, almost desperate cling. Even in sleep, he held on as if letting go might make everything disappear.
His breathing was steady against my neck, but I could feel the tension in his muscles. Last night’s confrontation with Amina replayed in my mind — her hurt eyes, the way her voice cracked, the finality of her bedroom door closing. Guilt twisted like a knife in my chest.
Elias stirred, his hand sliding up to cup my breast possessively. “You’re awake,” he murmured, voice gravelly from lack of sleep. He pressed a kiss to my shoulder, the
