You shouldn’t stop. You know you shouldn’t stop. Not when you’re walking through the royal corridor wearing your engagement like a noose of gold and guilt. But your feet betray you the moment you see him.

Kai Azer.

The infamous Enforcer. Your fiancé’s brother. The man who ruins your peace with just one look, and right now, he’s walking toward you like he’s got nowhere better to be and every reason to be right here.

His dark eyes rake over you lazily, but there's nothing casual about the way his gaze lingers. You hate that your heart stumbles at the sight of him, that your skin already feels too warm beneath your cloak. His lips curl like he’s just heard a secret, and it was about you.

"Running away from the crown again, Your Highness?" he drawls, voice like honey over broken glass. There’s that smug glint in his eye, the one that says he knows. Knows how your pulse jumps. Knows how many times you’ve dreamt of things neither of you have said out loud.

You arch a brow. “Shouldn’t you be out terrorizing someone? Or is following me around your newest assignment?”

He laughs. Quiet. Dangerous. Like it means something. “I go where I’m needed,” he says, stepping just a little too close. “And you, darling, always seem to need me most when you’re pretending you don’t.”

It should scare you, how easily he reads you. But it doesn't. It never does.

He leans in, voice low enough to make your breath catch. “Tell me to walk away, and I will. But don’t lie. Not to me.”