67Please respect copyright.PENANA8Hf5twuFSu
Damien Vale
67Please respect copyright.PENANAcv43s9rTYs
There are two kinds of silence.
The one that soothes.
And the one that consumes.
She gave me the latter—and I welcomed the ache.
67Please respect copyright.PENANADrjOSQuACD
I watched her leave without looking back, her shoulders squared like she didn’t feel me staring at her retreating form.
But I knew better.
67Please respect copyright.PENANAERkgiM98fy
Elena Rivers was fire in a locked glass case—burning behind that perfect composure, cracking behind every sharp word she used like armor.
I saw it. I always saw it.
67Please respect copyright.PENANAn7XBEmh2Q7
And now, I couldn’t stop.
67Please respect copyright.PENANA0Zz9AaJLH6
I leaned back in the leather chair of my office, the skyline a blur behind me. The city looked small from here—like everything else in my life. Manageable. Predictable.
Except her.
67Please respect copyright.PENANAdQwvaeXzEE
A soft chime came from my phone.
One glance.
Her name.
An email—formal, clipped, business. Like I was just another client. Like last night hadn’t happened.
Like she hadn’t looked at me with trembling hands and a heartbeat that I could feel even across the room.
67Please respect copyright.PENANA8StryTar6A
I didn’t reply. Not yet.
Let her wonder. Let her remember.
67Please respect copyright.PENANAbm1RJOcvtR
I got up and walked to the window. The glass was cold beneath my palm, but my blood was too hot, too thick. Obsession wasn’t new to me—I’d built empires off it. But this? This was different.
Elena didn’t need me.
She tried not to.
And maybe that’s what made me want her more than anything else I’ve ever had.
67Please respect copyright.PENANAiki2KOYdXg
I turned away, already dialing a number.
67Please respect copyright.PENANAW7PgIycOiU
"Find out where she’s going after work," I said quietly.
67Please respect copyright.PENANAZaMwbYpvEM
"Sir?" my assistant responded, hesitating.
67Please respect copyright.PENANAULTza3p8OU
"You heard me."
67Please respect copyright.PENANAFuMSLkib30
Silence on the line. Then a reluctant “Yes, Mr. Vale.”
67Please respect copyright.PENANAaCtDnxhyge
I hung up.
67Please respect copyright.PENANARdRJzJ3e04
If she wouldn’t let me in through the front door, I’d find another way.
I wasn’t a patient man.
But for her, I could pretend.
67Please respect copyright.PENANAxwhIaT0pQ2
For a little while.
67Please respect copyright.PENANAcZA1FKrnnr
67Please respect copyright.PENANA4uOukqKsOG
---
67Please respect copyright.PENANAVg4NumgaRu