Chapter 13 - THE HOUSE WITHOUT SHADOWS
A year later, Julian sold the Manhattan mansion.
The enormous house where we'd met.
The house filled with guards, hidden cameras, and locked rooms.
The house where I'd spent three months caring for a man who was hiding the truth.
He bought a smaller home overlooking the Hudson River.
It had large windows.
A garden.
A library.
And a kitchen that actually looked used.
When he showed it to me, I laughed.
“You bought a normal house?”
Julian smiled.
“Apparently.”
I looked around.
“No secret passages?”
“None.”
“No underground security command center?”
“Not unless the previous owner forgot to mention it.”
I laughed.
He stepped closer.
“I wanted somewhere that felt like a home.”
I looked at him.
“And does it?”
He smiled.
“When you're here.”
My heart softened.
But I didn't move in immediately.
I had my own apartment.
My own job.
My own life.
May you like
And Julian respected that.
For the first time, I was building a relationship without losing myself.
