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As he exited the vehicle, his gaze flicked left, then right, power folding back behind it. He looked at Jaxi and gave a short nod.

She slid out with a quiet, “Thank you,” already looking up at the building.

Inside, the host gave a polished nod and gestured toward a private elevator.

Kaos let Jaxi step forward first, then reached out—his hand landing at the base of her spine. A claim disguised as guidance. A point of contact to track her every move. She didn’t flinch. Didn’t question it.

His power swept again—narrowed this time. Targeted. He found warm bodies three floors up. Surface-level curiosity. Two distinct hunger patterns. Male. One seated. One mobile.

He stepped into the elevator beside her, hand still at her back until the doors closed.

“Fancy pants, indeed,” she murmured, adjusting her bag on her shoulder, eyes flicking to the mirrored walls.

He had no answer as the elevator ascended. He discreetly removed his hand from her lower back only to return it the second the door opened. He guided her out, scanning the table placements, wall structure, staff positions. Lanterns cast low light across the rooftop, the air filled with the smell of expensive wine, cooked meat, and something sweet—her hair, he realized, rising above it all.

Kaos directed her to the table with the best view of the elevator and stairwell. His etiquette data informed him to pull her chair before she could reach for it.

As she sat, his gaze landed on the far table, finding the lone male already watching her.

Kaos took his seat opposite her, adjusting the angle to intercept both access points and cut off one of the men already watching her.

Jaxi’s gaze swept the rooftop. Her smile bloomed big till her tiny nose wrinkled. “This feels like the last ten minutes of a rom-com,” she whispered, her voice giddy. “Just before somebody makes a really big confession.”

Kaos processed the term—romantic comedy. Patterned emotional spectacle. Scripted vulnerability.

“You don’t think so?” she asked.

“I’ve never seen one.”

Her grin widened. “Of course you haven’t.”

The server arrived and placed menus before them along with water.

Jaxi ran her fingers along the edge of her napkin. “It’s weirdly nice. Being somewhere like this.”

“Romantic?”

She raised an eyebrow. “Didn’t think you were listening.”

“I was.”So much more than you can fathom.

That softened something in her, but only for a second. “Why is that strange to you?” she asked. “You don’t think love can bloom somewhere like this?”

Kaos kept his eyes on her. “The only love I’ve seen was forged in fire. And sacrifice.”

She tilted her head, amused. “Sounds like you dated a landmine.”

He realized this was her way of asking for details. Cute crumbs of hunger, dropped right at his feet. He kept his eyes on her. “She was the Queen I was assigned to protect.”

The air froze between them as her smile faded with the pull of her eyebrows. “Wait… she was anactualqueen?”

Kaos scanned the rooftop, his sigh discreet. “Not by title. Not the kind you’d recognize.” Why did he keep bringingtheQueeninto their conversation?

Because she’s all you know and have.

“Then what kind?”

“She carried something sacred. Power that couldn’t stay hidden. Power that threatened others.”