Chapter 161

Sofia. The house was quiet again. Not the warm hush of family sleep like before—this was different. Tense. Coiled. I closed the door to the master bedroom behind me with shaking fingers. They weren’t here. I’d kissed them all goodnight. Told them I loved them. And then I’d said what none of us had ever dared to say aloud. “I want to be with him tonight too. I want Arsen.” There’d been silence. Tight jaws. Clenched fists. But they’d nodded , nevertheless. Not because they wanted to, but because they respected it. Me. Him. And now I was in the hallway, heart thudding like a warning bell. His door was open. The room was barely lit—moonlight spilling across the bed where he sat, shirtless, head bowed, tattoos twisting over his arms and shoulders like shadows, his scars full on display. He didn’t look up. “Are you going to come in,” he said, voice low, “Or are you just staying and leaving a second after?” My throat tightened. I walked in. He still didn’t move. “I'm sorry I couldn't stay wit