Chapter 71

• Lucia’s POV
• Ethan’s apartment didn’t smell like money. That was the first thing I noticed. No expensive cologne baked into the rugs, no curated candles burning in the corners. Just clean linen, faint coffee, and something like cedar from the old bookshelf pressed against the wall. It was quiet. Too quiet. The kind of quiet that made me feel… safe.
• He didn’t push when I walked in. Didn’t ask questions. Just took my coat, set it neatly on the arm of a chair, and moved toward the kitchen like it was the most natural thing in the world.