The cabinet door was still open when I felt it.
That shift in the air.
The quiet awareness that I was no longer alone.
I hadn't heard him move. Leo had always been capable of going completely silent when he wanted to. A second earlier, the apartment had been heavy with the rhythm of his sleeping breath. Next, there was a presence behind me.
"Valerie."
My name. Not sharp. Not angry.
Just… there.
I turned slowly.
Leo stood at the edge of the kitchen, one hand resting lightly against the wall as if steadying himself. His hair was slightly messy from sleep, his sweater creased where he'd leaned against the couch. But his eyes…
He didn't look sleepy.
He was fully awake.
And he saw the open compartment in the wall.
The folder in my hands.
For half a second, my body reacted before my mind did. My heart jumped. My throat tightened. Every instinct screamed that I had crossed a line I wasn't supposed to cross. That I had opened something I was never meant to see.
