The atmosphere inside the sprawling villa was laden with an oppressive tension, thickening the air until each breath felt laborious. Mara drifted through the opulent yet eerily quiet rooms like a specter, haunted by the reverberation of Damon’s anguished bellow—SHE IS NOT AN ASSET!—echoing in her mind.

He loved her. That revelation loomed over her like a thundercloud, an undeniable truth that unraveled everything she thought she understood about their chaotic existence. The meticulously ...