Torn Between Us

didn'

remained alert. Every creak of the old pipes, every shift of the wind against the windows felt like a warning. She

s panes, distorting the view of the manicured gardens below. She forced hersel

e, she guessed-but she needed to bre

catering or formal meals, but a smaller, tucked-away space that probably s

voice asked

urned, s

rk stubble shadowing his jaw. He didn't look like the heir to a

a morning person," she

hed for a mug and poured her a cup. "Milk? Suga

ong. Like my sur

fingers brushed for a second-just enough

irl," he

kind of quiet that felt oddly comfortable de

or you last nig

owned. "V

nod

ould sh

That's either a good s

im. "You real

e a word. It's more like... I see her

you're

Because I never

Then, almost as if realizing he'd said too mu

said casually. "He plays a l

ng me or tryin

s dark. "Sometimes th

he wa

wealth, and ceremony. A car waited outside to take Amelia to the Hawthorne Foundatio

the car beside her, impeccably dressed and freshly shaven

d join you to

ze shadowing ca

know who walks through our doors. Especi

lian leaned in slight

think they're special. It's a survival

you d

't pre

ust a little. "N

ghed softly. "You might sur

th pristine floors, glass walls, and the distinct hum of ambition. The Hawthorne Foundation b

, seated behind a massive desk tha

she said with

5," Ameli

ol and unimpressed. "And y

in behind her.

ond to him. Her eyes

ing here is not a right. It's

id of failing

curved faintly.

es, organizing files, answering calls. The work wasn't difficult-but the atmospher

, she m

that evening, Victoria paused b

" she said without t

not most people,

herself. "That re

t, Amelia

d herself near the west wing-where she'd been

pen a heavy

ld smoke. It was a library, but unlike the curated one downstairs, this

to be here," Leo sa

chair, a book in one hand, a gla

here," Amelia replied.

. "You're

brushing her fingers along a

"The part of the hous

d y

e said simply. "

gance, his quick wit, Leo's eyes carried weight.

stay, Leo?

answer i

nt them to see what

n them pulsed with

aver than they are

s. "Don't romanticize me

ere to fal

r. "Good. Because love in this hous

art now, breath tan

scare me,

rand of hair behind her ear,

ld be," h

e. And for a moment

ed back. Not in fe

night

y, leaving him alo

room, another messa

s dangerous. Don't

, a second me

ith fire. Hope you kn

d at the glo

just a house

a battl

enter, with two brothers pull