NICHOLAS’S POV

Since last night, the message hasn’t left my mind. It rang in my head like a bell that wouldn’t stop.

“She’s still watching you like her life depends on it.”

It wasn’t an empty threat, it was a reminder that my world was no longer safe, that someone out there was stalking us like a predator circling its prey.

I tried to shake it off, but I couldn’t. Because every time I looked at Ava, I saw the burden in her eyes, the exhaustion she tried to cover up, and the ...