Upon reaching the Valentine Residence, Winston was already standing by the door waiting for them.

As the engine went silent, Gavriel glanced at Aliana, who had gone unusually quiet after their last conversation, and he found himself wondering what was going on inside that head of hers. He could still sense the lingering heaviness in her emotions.... emotions she was trying so desperately to bury deep within herself.

Yet even after the car had stopped, she didn’t move as if not aware that they had arrived.

A faint crease appeared between Gavriel’s brows as he realised she was no longer present mentally.

Opening his own car door, he stepped out smoothly before making his way to her side.

Through the glass, he caught sight of her distant expression, her eyes unfocused.

Something about it stirred irritation within him.

Without warning, he pulled open the door.

Aliana was startled slightly before blinking several times, finally snapping back to reality as her gaze landed on him standing right before her.

"Oh," she breathed, quickly looking around before realising where they were. "We’ve reached."

There was clear surprise in her voice as she reached to undo her seatbelt, but the moment her fingers touched it, her breath caught sharply in her throat.

Gavriel had suddenly bent down.

His face hovered close to hers.

"What are you-" Her voice instantly died when she felt his hand slide over hers, where the seatbelt lock was.

Instead of unfastening it, he simply remained there, trapping her beneath him as those eyes locked onto hers with unsettling intensity.

"Where are you lost?" he asked softly, his low voice pouring over her skin like warm liquid.

Aliana’s eyes widened slightly. She didn’t expect him to ask her anything, let alone ask her this particular question.

A faint blush slowly crept onto her cheeks, and she quickly looked away from him.

Using her free hand, she hurriedly pressed the seatbelt open until the sharp click echoed between them. The second it unlocked, she tried to move and step out of the car.

But Gavriel’s hand instantly pressed down over hers, stopping her.

Her eyes snapped back to him. "What do you think you are doing?"

"I asked you something," he replied calmly, though his eyes searched hers, as though trying to peel apart every thought she was hiding from him.

Aliana frowned lightly. "It’s nothing. I was just... just processing everything."

When he still didn’t move, she let out a small sigh before muttering, "Sometimes I like to do that... zone out. I’m sure you do it too since you’re silent most of the time."

She noticed the slight frown deepen between his brows as he heard her mumble under her breath, "God knows what goes on inside that head of yours."

He narrowed his eyes on her before asking, "Do you want to know?"

"What?" This time, it was Aliana who frowned.

"Do you want to find out what’s been going on inside my head, little rose?" he asked again, this time far more seductively.

The dangerous undertone in his voice made Ali instinctively lean further back into her seat, if that was even possible anymore.

Before he could lean in any closer and trap her within another one of his intoxicating spells, she quickly placed her free hand against his chest, pushing him back. "No, thank you," she murmured breathlessly. "Now, if you would please move."

When Gavriel merely tilted his head slightly without budging, she blurted out the first thing that came to mind: "I’m hungry."

Even though she wasn’t actually hungry, she said it anyway just to get him to back off enough so she could calm her racing heart and think clearly.

The entire time, her thoughts had been consumed with how to shield herself from the lethal charms of the man who was about to become her husband. She needed to prevent any misleading ideas from taking root regarding their vague relationship.

To achieve that, she knew she first and foremost needed to make herself immune to his otherworldly beauty and maintain as much physical distance as possible.... at least for the time being. It was the only way she could reconstruct the walls he had been damaging so easily, if not destroying completely.

Gavriel, on the other hand, watched her quietly for a few seconds longer before finally stepping back and straightening outside the car.

The moment the pressure of his closeness disappeared, Aliana quietly released the breath she had unknowingly been holding.

Relief washed over her.

Quickly, she moved to place her heels onto the ground to step out of the car, but froze midway when a hand suddenly appeared before her.

Her eyes slowly lowered to it before lifting again to meet his gaze.

For a moment, she hesitated.

Not wanting to make things awkward, she carefully placed her hand into his.

Gavriel’s fingers closed around hers firmly, and a strange warmth instantly spread through her skin at the simple contact. Before she could overthink it, he gently helped her out of the car.

"Thank you," she murmured softly, quickly pulling her hand from his, and she began to walk toward the mansion as if his touch had burned her.

Gavriel said nothing, but the abruptness of it didn’t go unnoticed, making him narrow his eyes at her retreating figure.

Upon meeting Winston at the door, the butler greeted her with a respectful bow. "Welcome back, Madam."

"Thank you, Winston," Aliana said, offering him a small smile.

"Welcome back, Master," Winston greeted Gavriel with the same formality when he came to stand behind Aliana.

The instant his presence settled close behind her, Aliana’s shoulders noticeably stiffened.

Gavriel’s eyes briefly shifted to Winston before locking right back onto Aliana. Without taking his eyes off her, he addressed the butler.

"Set up dinner in the dining room, and show Madam around the estate whenever she wishes."

"Yes, Master," Winston responded with another respectful bow.

For a second, silence settled between them.

Then, with a final lingering glance towards Aliana, something unreadable flickered through his eyes before he finally turned away and stepped inside the mansion without another word.

Aliana remained where she was for a moment longer, her eyes following his retreating figure as he disappeared deeper into the house.

For a fleeting moment, she found herself wondering, ’Is he.... angry?’

Pressing her lips into a thin line, a slight frown settled between her brows.

She was also surprised by his second instruction to Winston and could not help but wonder if this was his silent way of welcoming her into his home, even though they were not married yet.

Her attention was eventually pulled away from the path Gavriel had taken when Winston spoke up softly.

"Madam?"

"Y-yes?" She looked at the elderly butler, who still kept his gaze respectfully lowered.

"Would you like to freshen up first, or would you prefer to head straight to dinner?" he asked gently.

"I..." she trailed off as her eyes instinctively drifted back inside the house where Gavriel had long since disappeared before quietly replying, "I’ll eat now, if that is alright?"

"Certainly, Madam," Winston replied. "Please, allow me to lead you to the dining room."

"Thank you," she murmured, stepping across the threshold to follow him deeper into the estate.