Clara’s POV

The call ended, and the silence in my office felt almost too soft, as if it knew I needed room to breathe. I placed the phone gently on the desk not because it was fragile, but because I didn’t want to break the moment.

I smiled to myself, a slow, involuntary curl of the lips. I had carried the memory of Damien all morning as though it had been a century since I’d last seen him though, in truth, it was just last night. That was the strange thing about him. A single night ...