The city had started to quiet down by the time they reached the restaurant.
Outside, headlights slid past the windows in long streaks while people hurried along the sidewalks with coats pulled tight against the cold. Inside, the lights were low, the music soft, and the air carried the smell of bread, wine, and something sweet Mia could not place.
Cade sat across from her like he belonged there.
One arm rested over the back of his chair while he turned his wine glass slowly between his fingers. His gaze drifted toward her every so often, not intrusive, but far too observant.
Mia had barely touched her food.
Her fingers moved absently along the edge of her fork as thoughts crowded her mind. Her mother. The lie. Cade sitting across from her, looking at her like he was already trying to figure her out.
"Do you always get this quiet over dinner?" Cade asked, his voice low enough to pull her back into the moment.
Mia looked up. "No. I'm just tired. It's been a long day."
Cade's mouth curved slightly. "You say that like being here is exhausting."
Mia tightened her grip around her fork. "Used to it doesn't mean I enjoy it."
He studied her for a second before leaning back again.
"Fair enough."
Silence settled between them for a moment before Cade spoke again.
"We didn't get much time to talk the last time," he said. "I'd like to change that tonight. Tell me about yourself, Miss Lyra."
The name sounded strange now.
Before she could answer, her phone vibrated softly against the table.
Mia glanced down, and her breath caught when she saw the notification. The transfer had gone through. Lyra had finally sent the money.
Relief hit her so hard it almost hurt.
She opened her banking app immediately, her fingers moving quickly as she prepared the payment to Norvayne-High.
Then another notification appeared.
Her hand froze.
Her mother's condition had worsened.
Treatment would stop within twenty-four hours without immediate payment.
Mia stared at the screen, the university, her mother.
She could not afford both.
For a moment, she stopped hearing the piano, the conversations around her, even Cade's voice across the table.
A tear slipped down her cheek before she could stop it.
"Lyra?."
His voice was quieter now.
She looked up.
"Was that a tear?"
She wiped her face quickly and forced out a weak laugh. "It's nothing."
Cade did not look convinced.
"That didn't look like nothing."
"I'm fine," she said, though her voice shook slightly.
Before he could say anything else, the restaurant doors swung open hard enough to turn every head in the room.
"Mia!"
Her blood ran cold.
Axel walked in with three men behind him, his expression already twisted with anger.
"There you are," he said loudly. "Didn't think you'd sink this low."
Mia went still.
"Axel, please," she said quietly.
But he was not there to be quiet.
His gaze shifted toward Cade.
"So this is the new guy?" Axel asked with a bitter laugh. "Guess you found someone with a heavier wallet."
Murmurs spread through the restaurant.
Humiliation hit Mia so hard she could barely breathe.
Cade stayed seated for another second, calm and completely unbothered. Then he set his glass down and rose to his feet.
"Leave...now!" he said.
The calm in his voice only seemed to make Axel angrier.
Axel stepped forward. "Or what?"
Before Axel could finish, Mia stood abruptly, the chair scraping loudly against the floor. She turned toward the exit, determined to escape the humiliating spectacle.
But her heels betrayed her, slipping on the polished surface. She felt herself falling, her balance gone.
In a blink, Cade was there, faster than a normal eye could follow. One moment he was at the table; the next, his arm was around her waist, catching her mid-fall.
"You okay?" he asked, his voice softer now, his golden eyes locked on hers.
Mia nodded, but her heart was racing too fast for her to speak.
At first, all she noticed was the warmth of his hand at her waist and how solid he felt beside her.
He did not let go right away.
Then he leaned down and pressed a soft kiss to her forehead.
"I've got you," he murmured.
Axel's face darkened.
"Get your hands off her."
Cade turned toward him, and whatever softness had been there disappeared.
He reached into his jacket, pulled out a thick fold of cash, and tossed it toward Axel's feet.
"Take it," he said coldly. "Then walk away."
For a second, Axel just stared at the money.
Then he bent down, grabbed it, and stormed out with his friends behind him.
The room slowly came back to life around them, filled with low whispers.
Cade took Mia's hand and led her outside before the whispers could catch up to them.
The silence inside the car felt heavy, but not uncomfortable.
"Where are we going?" she asked softly, her voice still carrying the weight of everything that had just happened.
Cade didn't look at her immediately. His hands remained steady on the wheel, his expression unreadable in the dim glow of passing lights.
"Somewhere quieter," he replied at last. "You don't look like you're ready to go home yet."
Mia didn't argue, she didn't have the strength to.
The humiliation, the fear, the lingering tremor in her chest from Axel's appearance all clung to her like a second skin, refusing to fade. And somewhere beneath it all was something worse… the quiet, unsettling comfort she felt sitting beside Cade.
The car eased to a stop in front of a sleek, glass-fronted building. A hotel.
Mia hesitated as he stepped out and came around to open her door, his movements calm, deliberate, as though this was the most natural thing in the world.
"You don't have to," she murmured, even as she placed her hand in his.
Cade's gaze met hers, steady and unwavering. "I know."
And yet, he didn't let go.
The ride up the elevator passed in silence. By the time the doors opened into a private floor, Mia's heart had begun to beat in a slow, uneven rhythm she couldn't quite control.
The room he led her into was spacious, dimly lit with warm tones that softened the edges of everything. Floor-to-ceiling windows stretched across one side, revealing the city below in a quiet, distant glow.
It felt too intimate and too far removed from reality.
Mia stepped inside slowly, her arms folding around herself without thinking, as though she needed something to hold her together.
Only then did she realize how much she was still shaking, and Cade noticed too.
"You're still trembling," he said softly.
"I'm fine," she replied instinctively, though her voice betrayed her.
Cade didn't argue.
He simply stepped closer.
Close enough that she could feel the quiet heat of him, steady and grounding in a way that made her chest tighten unexpectedly.
"You don't have to pretend with me, Lyra," he murmured, his fingers brushing lightly against her arm. "Not here."
The touch was gentle, but it sent a shiver through her that had nothing to do with fear.
And then, before she could answer, he leaned down and kissed her.
It wasn't rushed. It wasn't demanding. It was slow and deliberate, as though he was giving her every chance to pull away, every opportunity to say no.
But she didn't.
Mia's lips parted under his with a soft, quiet sigh, her body melting against him as the last of her resistance finally crumbled. Her hands slid up his chest, clutching at the fabric of his shirt as though it was the only thing keeping her upright.
One of Cade's hands moved to the small of her back, pressing her flush against him as the kiss deepened, slow and sensual, tasting faintly of wine and something that was entirely him.
His other hand came up to cup her jaw, thumb stroking over her cheekbone in a gesture that was both possessive and impossibly tender.
It was the kind of kiss that stripped away every defense she had left.
His hands moved slowly and slightly to her thighs, and before she could react to it, his hands were already under her panties.....
"Are we really doing this?"