I froze.
Her voice wasn't cracked or hysterical. It was controlled—quiet—but it hit like a knife between ribs.
She was awake. Not just awake—waiting.
I turned slowly to face her. Her eyes met mine in the shadows, her expression unreadable. Her body still bruised, still healing, still fucking stunning. But her eyes? Ice.
She already knew the answer. She just wanted to hear it from me.
I stepped toward her, careful with my movement.
"How much did you hear?"
She scoffed softly. "Enough."
Her gaze cut me clean in half. "I thought I was imagining things when I woke up and heard voices. So I stayed quiet. I expected a lot thing Kael." She paused, as if weighing the truth of her next words. "But what I didn't expect from you was a status report about my kidnapping being wrapped up like it was a stock trade."
I tilted my head slightly, assessing her—assessing the damage done. "You should've been asleep."
