Chapter 22

Bryan's POV

I sank into the couch, my body heavy with exhaustion and my mind a whirlpool of emotions.

It was weird that I noticed the apartment was too quiet without Emelda, her presence an absence that seemed to echo in the silence.

I sipped my coffee, its warmth doing nothing to ease the chill in my bones.

As I stared out the window, my thoughts turned to the early hours of the morning, to the memory of Emelda sitting tensed before me on the bed, her naked body a temptation and a call.

Her beauty, indeed, had been breathtaking, her vulnerability arousing and maddening all at once.

I could still feel the way my heart had pounded, my blood thrumming with a savage desire that seemed to overwhelm my senses.

Although I was drunk, it wasn't the alcohol in my body that made me want her. It was the deep desire and the beauty of her skin that called out to me.

And yet, even as I had reached for her, my hands greedy and possessive, a small voice inside me had protested, reminding me tha