Aurora,
December 1, 2025
My heart slammed against my ribs so hard it hurt, and the world around me faded to nothing, leaving only those eyes, that face, and then suddenly I noticed the silence of Noel’s crying as he went still against my chest the second he sensed him.
I couldn’t breathe.
Because the man I swore I would never see again was standing right here, inches from me, staring at me as the past year collapsed between us in a single heartbeat.
“Leon…” the name slipped out of me before I could stop it. “Leon…” I repeated it, softer this time, because maybe saying it twice makes sense of the impossible.
Before Leon could answer, the sound of chairs scraping violently across the floor echoed from inside the meeting room, startling the mules that rose behind me, followed by a su
