She stepped out of her building at half past one.
Liam watched from across the street.
He'd been parked there for twenty minutes — engine off, low in his seat, the specific configuration of someone who had arrived at a decision he wasn't proud of and had decided to follow through on anyway. He'd told himself, on the drive over, that he was here because he didn't trust Ray. That this was about the alliance. That watching Aurora walk into Ray Carver's orbit without any kind of backup was a strategic concern and not a personal one.
He was still telling himself that when she appeared on the steps and the argument collapsed entirely.
She was dressed differently from the restaurant night — where that had been precise and deliberate and aimed at a specific effect, this was something else. Softer somehow, more feminine, the particular kind of beautiful that didn't look like it was trying. The dress moved when she walked. Her hair was down.
She's going to see Ray.
