"I will take her," he said, already reaching for Talia.

"Actually," I started, fully intending to hand her over and leave immediately, "I was just going to-"

"Selene."

His voice was quiet, but it stopped me.

"The maids all took the evening off tonight," he said carefully.

"I would handle it myself, but I would not know the first thing about getting her changed and settled properly."

He paused, and something flickered briefly across his expression.

"Would you be willing to stay just a little longer and help?"

I looked at Talia, who had now begun softly humming to herself with her eyes closed.

"Of course," I said.

It took a solid twenty minutes to get Talia changed into her pajamas, washed up, and tucked into bed.

She protested every single step of the process but was asleep before her head fully hit the pillow.

I pulled the blanket up around her shoulders and stood quietly for a moment, watching her breathe.

Even drunk and ridiculous, she was still my best friend.

In my past life, I had let this friendship slowly die because of my obsession with Dominic.

I would not make that mistake again.

I slipped out of Talia's room and pulled the door shut behind me.

Kassian was waiting in the hallway, but he had changed out of his suit into a simple dark sweater and trousers.

He looked younger this way.

More human.

"Thank you," he said quietly.

"It was nothing," I replied, and I meant it.

He glanced toward the window at the end of the hall.

"It is almost two in the morning," he said.

"You should not be traveling alone at this hour, especially after drinking."

I opened my mouth to tell him I was fine, but he spoke again before I could.

"You are welcome to stay the night and share Talia's room."

I thought about it for exactly three seconds.

I had drunk more than I realized at the bar, and the road back to my family's estate was long.

"All right," I agreed.

"Good night, Alpha King."

"Good night, Selene."

I went back into Talia's room, lay down on the wide bed beside her, and stared at the ceiling.

Sleep refused to come.

My mind would not stop moving.

Dominic drifted through my thoughts first, but I pushed him aside easily.

He did not deserve the space.

Then Kassian filled the silence instead.

I knew things about him that he did not know I knew.

In my past life, I had been completely blind to his feelings for months.

But looking back now, the signs had always been there.

Two months after I had been engaged to Dominic, Kassian had pulled me aside and told me, quietly and seriously, that he had feelings for me.

That he had for a long time.

I had been so certain Dominic was my future that I had turned Kassian down without a second thought.

I had not even been kind about it.

The memory made my chest ache.

He had loved me, and I had dismissed him like it meant nothing.

And then he had died in a fire trying to save me anyway.

I pressed my palm flat against my sternum and breathed slowly.

Thirst pulled me out of bed sometime later.

I moved quietly down the stairs, not wanting to wake anyone.

The lights in the main sitting room were dim, but not off.

I stopped in the doorway.

Kassian was sitting alone with his back to me, a glass of red wine in his hand.

He was completely still.

His shoulders were heavy in a way that had nothing to do with tiredness.

I recognized that kind of stillness.

It was grief wearing a quiet disguise.

I walked in and sat down across from him.

He looked up, startled.

I reached for the bottle on the table and poured myself a small glass.

"You look like you have something on your mind," I said.

He did not answer right away.

"Maybe I can help," I added.

He looked at me for a long moment.

"You cannot," he said finally.

I did not push him.

I finished my wine and set the glass down and stood to leave.

As I passed his chair, his hand shot out and closed around my wrist.

His grip was firm, almost desperate.

"Selene."

His voice was barely steady.

"Did you get engaged today?"

The question cracked open something in the air between us.

I understood immediately.

He had heard about the ceremony.

He had spent the whole night sitting here alone, drinking, believing I was now bound to another man.

"The engagement was canceled," I said.

His head lifted sharply.

The heaviness in his eyes shifted into something bright and urgent.

"Why?" he asked.

"He ran off with someone else," I said simply.

"He was in love with another girl."

Kassian's jaw tightened.

"Do not be sad," he said quietly.

I smiled.

"I am not sad," I told him honestly.

"I realized I did not love him as much as I thought I did. Canceling it actually made me feel lighter."

He stared at me.

Something moved behind his expression, slow and careful, like a door opening just a crack.

"What kind of man do you want?" he asked.

His voice was low, almost careful.

"Someone serious," I said without hesitation.

"Someone who is completely devoted. Someone who loves me fully, without reservation."

Kassian nodded once, slowly.

I stood and turned toward the stairs.

I had taken only a few steps when his voice came again, tighter this time, laced with something that sounded almost like nerves.

"Selene."

I stopped.

"Would it matter to you," he said carefully, "if the man were five or six years older than you?"

I turned around slowly.

I looked directly into his eyes.

"As long as there is love," I said, "nothing else matters."