Chapter 101

Elena woke up the next morning to the soft brush of fingers across her forehead. She opened her eyes, which strangely felt heavier than ever, and was met with the familiar pair of shaded eyes belonging to the man who was the reason for her deep bone exhaustion.

Her heart ached at the sight of Simon. She didn’t know why, but this fist-sized ball of emotions inside her always got bigger and heavier whenever he was close.

“How are you feeling, little bird?” The words that left his mouth were gentle, but she knew they were fake. There was nothing gentle in the way he looked at her, not with those dark eyes that seemed to want to devour her whole. Or maybe that’s what she forced herself to see because knowing anything else would only complicate matters for her.

And there was simply no need for any more complications than there already were between them. She just wanted this to be over—for them to be over.

“You gave me quite a scare there,” Simon said, but his words were slow, and it was the