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Silence settled between us.

Thick.

Unmoving.

My pulse filled the space. I hated the sound. She didn’t move. Didn’t rise. Didn’t retreat. The longer it held—the heavier it became.

She should have left.

But she didn’t.

My breath shortened.

Something sharp pressed under my ribs.

Unwelcome.

Savage.

A knock cut through it.

“Boss.” Rafe murmured.

The moment snapped. I pulled in a breath. Hard.

“I’ll leave you, then,” she said.

That ache tightened again as she moved.

I tracked her immediately. The scrape of her foot. The shift in her weight. Step by step—until the sound slipped into the hall. Then further. Gone.

“Boss,” Rafe said again.

“Yes.”

The word colder than I intended. It stayed.

“Hennessy’s on my back again. You can’t keep ignoring him.”

I kept my focus on the empty space she’d left behind. “Watch me.”

The chair scraped as I stood.

“You could see again, you know.”

I stilled.

The memory hit—sharp, sudden—small body in my arms—blood—I cut it off.

“I already saw everything I need to.”

I walked past him. Left him there.

7

NYSSA

The house has rules?