I've never felt so safe, so complete. Being here at Traz's side — it feels like it's right where I was meant to be. Anything he'd ask me to, anywhere he'd ask me to go, I'd obey without question.
As I fall asleep, I pray he asks me to follow him to the stars.
CHAPTER 7
KELLI
He’s gone.
I don’t hear it from him. Of course not.
I wake up to silence. No guards at the door. No summons. Just the cold tick of nothing.
It’s not until I try to step outside my quarters and two of Petru’s muscleheads block the hall that I realize something’s changed.
“Where’s Traz?” I ask, already knowing.
The taller one snorts. “Off-world. Took a contract.”
I blink. “He left?”
The other guy shrugs. “Didn’t say goodbye if that’s what you’re fishing for.”
I step back inside, pulse ringing in my ears.
So that’s it.
One night of tension, of looks that said too much and touches that said more—and he’s gone like I never happened. Like I’m just another job he walked away from.
I shouldn’t care. I don’t care.
But it feels like something cracked wide open and no one bothered to clean up the mess.
I sit on the edge of the cot, hands clenching in my lap.
I knew better. Always have. Men like him don’t stay. They come through like storms—loud, fast, unforgettable. And then they’re gone.
Still, some part of me—the soft, stupid part—thought maybe he’d say something. A nod. A word. A warning.
Something.
But no. Nothing.
That’s what I get for hoping.
I glance around the room. My room.
The silk’s still hanging by the mirror. The perfume tray untouched. The fake crystal on the windowsill catching filtered sunlight like it matters.
But I know. I feel it.
This place isn’t mine anymore.
Something’s shifted. I’m no longer the delicate flower Petru parades around. No longer the gleaming gem in his gallery.
And if I’m not a prize, then I’m a problem.
What does Petru do with problems?
