Sera’s POV
“Just so you know,” I said, keeping my voice deliberately light as I leaned against the kitchen island, “Aria can be a handful.”
I watched him closely as the words settled.
Not casually. Not offhandedly.
Carefully.
Like I was placing something fragile between us and waiting to see if he would drop it.
“She wakes up early,” I continued, swirling the wine in my glass, the deep red catching the light. “Very early. She talks nonstop when she’s excited, and when she’s bored, and when she’s thinking. She asks questions that don’t always have answers, and she changes her mind about what she wants every five minutes.”
I paused, studying his expression.
“And when she gets tired,” I added softly, “she gets emotional. Tomorrow won’t be easy.”
There it was.
The opening.
The momen
