Chapter 72 072

Chapter 72 072

Rayna
By the time night fell, I was already exhausted, but that wasn't the worst part. The worst and frustrating part of it all, was the fact that no matter how hard I tried, or what method I seemed to employ, nothing was going to change, and I hated it.

I hated being exhausted, and like that wasn't enough, it wasn't the kind of tired sleep fixes, but the kind that settled into your bones, heavy and relentless. The kind that came from pretending all day that I hadn’t seen my name written in ink where it didn’t belong.

Heaven knows I had no idea how I'd been able to walk away from the crime scene after that. After my eyes had seen my name in that ledger , I was sure my feet had been rooted to that spot. Hell, I didn't have a memory of me walking away from there, but right now, I wasn't even sure if I was glad or not.

I vaguely remembered the rest of the day. From smiling when spoken to, to eating without tasting, and down to answering questions without hearing them.

Hell. Everything else that happened today was hell. Getting through the rest of the day after the ledger had been exactly that, and in my opinion, the word hell almost didn't do justice to how bad it was.

Every time someone said my name, it echoed differently, every time I passed a closed door, I wondered what else was hidden behind it. I kept seeing the page in my mind, how neat the handwriting had been, and how deliberate, as if whoever wrote it had never doubted I would end up there.

As if I was inevitable.

By the time night came, I realized it was the twentieth night, and I had no idea how I felt about it. My nerves were raw, and even though I knew I was supposed to be celebrating my latest feat, I didn't feel like it at all.

Hell, I wasn't even looking forward to Zero tonight either.

I told myself I was walking to Zero’s room because it was routine, because it was expected, because not going would have raised questions I wasn’t ready to answer.

But that was a lie.

I was going because I was unraveling, and he was the only constant in a place that suddenly felt hostile.

The corridor leading to his room was dim, quiet, and familiar. It was everything it had always been, but for some strange reason, tonight felt different. My footsteps sounded too loud to my own ears, while my fingers trembled at my sides, betraying me. I curled them into fists to hide it, but it didn't stop the truth from tugging at me all around.

“Get it together,” I told myself. “You’ve survived worse than a book and a secret.”

It felt good when I muttered it to myself, but that fleeting feeling of hope disappeared immediately after.

The door opened easily when I reached it, and Zero’s room swallowed me whole.

The lighting was low, the shadows deep and deliberate, the air heavy with that same quiet dominance the room always carried, and there he was, exactly where he always was.

Zero was sitting on the edge of the bed in hi usual spot, his elbows resting loosely on his thighs, hands clasped, and head slightly bowed. He didn’t look at me, nor did he acknowledge my presence. He didn't say a word, not like he always did, and something about that unsettled me more than his attention ever had.

I shut the door behind me softly.

Still nothing.

“So,” I said lightly, forcing the familiar tease into my voice, even though my chest felt tight. “You know, for someone who summons me every night, you’re being awfully quiet.”

No response.

“One would think that by now, all of these would have been a thing of the past.” I moved farther into the room, heels soft against the floor. “Should I be offended, or is this one of your dramatic silences?”

He didn’t lift his head.

My heart began to race, panic stirring under my skin. I hated it,hated how exposed I suddenly felt, standing there with everything I hadn’t said clawing at my throat.

“Wow. Okay.” I laughed quietly, trying to brush it off. “Tough crowd.”

Still nothing.

My fingers shook, but I pressed them together, grounding myself, and breathing through it all.

“You’re fine,” I told myself. “You’re in control.”

But I wasn’t.

I took another step closer, then another, until I stood directly in front of him. Close enough now that I could see the tension in his jaw, the way his shoulders were coiled tight beneath his dark shirt.

“Zero,” I said softly.

Slowly, deliberately, he lifted his head. His eyes met mine, and something in them stole the breath from my lungs.

They were dark, focused and guarded, not cold, but restrained, like a storm held behind iron bars.

I swallowed.

“I want to do something,” I said. “Something neither of us expects”

The words came out before I could rethink them. An idea was already forming at the back of my mind, but before I could chicken out of it at the last minute, I imagined his voice in my head.

“Rayna?” His gaze sharpened as his imaginary voice played itself in my head. “What?”

Imaginary Zero had said just one word, low and controlled, but somehow, that was all it took to turn my lower belly into a mess.

My pulse thundered, and despite it all, I could feel it everywhere, in my wrists, my throat, and even deep in my knees. The memory of my name in that ledger burned behind my eyes, unbearable and demanding.

“I just…” My voice faltered, and I hated that it did. I straightened my shoulders. “I need to.”

He didn’t move, didn’t reach for me, didn’t stop me, and that was all the permission I needed.

I stepped forward and kissed him. It wasn't tentative not questioning, I kissed him fully.

My hands fisted into the fabric of his shirt as my mouth pressed to his, heat and urgency crashing through me all at once. The kiss was deep, desperate, fueled by fear and confusion and want I’d been denying for far too long.

For half a second, just one, he didn’t respond. That hesitation nearly broke me, and then he did.

Not by touching me, not by pulling me closer, but by parting his lips and letting me in.

The kiss turned slow and devastating, his mouth moving with mine in controlled precision, and matching my urgency without ever taking over. It felt intentional, and almost measured, kike he was letting me do this, letting me cross a line he’d drawn himself.

His restraint made it worse.

The heat between us built, sharp and consuming, my breath hitching as I kissed him again, harder this time. He stayed still beneath me, solid and unyielding, accepting everything I gave without giving anything back.

When I finally pulled away, my lips tingled, my chest heaving. His forehead rested against mine.

I waited for him to speak, for him to stop me.
, for him to say this changes nothing.

Instead
, he kept his gaze locked on me, and that was when I knew, whatever I had just started, I wasn’t ready for how it would end