Chapter 222

Cecilia's pov The second I heard his voice, my spine went rigid like someone had flipped the "fight or flight" switch. I turned slowly to find Sebastian standing in the doorway, rain dripping from his hair and soaking the shoulders of his black coat. He looked like he'd walked straight out of a noir film, no cigarette, just pure brooding. His eyes met mine, unreadable as fog rolling off a mountain lake. Still. Still that maddening calm. "I slept perfectly well," I said with forced brightness, the kind reserved for family dinners and awkward office parties. I grabbed for the tissue box on the coffee table like it was a lifeline, using it as an excuse to break our eye contact. A few sheets in hand, I crossed the room and handed them to him. "Your hair's soaked," I said, tone clinically polite. "Might want to dry off before you catch something inconvenient. Like pneumonia. Or attention." "Thanks," he said, accepting the tissues with a slight nod and casually patting his hair like he hadn'