The King's Denial

Maverick’s POV

The phone felt heavier than it looked.

I’d picked it up like it was nothing, just glass and metal, like I was just checking something. But the second it settled in my palm, it felt like a weight. Not from its size, but from everything it meant. I sat back on the edge of the bed, the silence of the room pressing down on me like another set of hands, and stared at the screen.

Valerie’