Sanctioned Strike

Gideon’s jaw tightened, his usual warmth replaced by steel. “He’s right. They’re already suspicious about you and Kaelen. Ivanov knows he can’t touch Kaelen directly—so he’ll go after the one thing that would hurt him most. You.”

A heavy silence followed, the weight of his words sinking in like stone.

Then, almost imperceptibly, the air shifted. A quiet tension rippled through the garden—subtle