“Don’t say it unless you mean it.”

Solene’s voice cut through the silence like a blade sharp, raw, final.

Lucien stood across the hotel suite, blood drying on his jaw, his jacket still reeking of smoke and gunpowder. He’d just said it.

The word she never expected.

“Fiancée.”

LOCATION: NEW EDEN – UNMARKED LUXURY SUITE

TIME: 10:14 a.m.

Lucien didn’t blink. “I meant it.”

Solene laughed once. It wasn’t pretty. “You mean it like a body means rigor ...