Soft murmurs drifted around Aliana, yet nothing registered as more than an incoherent jumble of words. She was currently at the Vanderbilt Estate, surrounded by an intimate circle of family and friends, a glass of whiskey held loosely in her hands. People spoke to her or laughed at jokes made among themselves, but it all fell on deaf ears.
Her mind remained fixed on the previous night, when she had woken from a light sleep to the feeling of a gentle kiss pressed to her hair and heard him whisper…
"I promise to tell you everything."
'What did he mean by that? What did he want to tell me?' She had asked herself over and over, wanting to open her eyes and ask him directly.
Yet in that moment, she had remained utterly still until she felt him untangle himself from her and his weight leave the mattress.
She waited to hear what he was planning to do, but as the seconds passed, there was only silence.
When she finally mustered the courage to turn around, Gavriel was nowhere in sight.
