For a few seconds, Serena couldn't find her tongue—or the right words—to say. Her lips parted slightly, but the thoughts racing through her head jumbled into silence.
Lucian watched her, his sharp eyes trailing the way her expression shifted between shock, confusion, and something he couldn't quite place.
Finally, when she managed to speak, what came out of her mouth wasn't what he expected.
"How can you still think of that… in your current condition?" she asked, her voice hushed with disbelief. Her brows furrowed, eyes narrowing slightly as she tried to make sense of his words.
Lucian chuckled.
Seeing the look on her face, he had already guessed where her mind had gone. He could see it in the way her eyes had widened and the faint red blooming in her cheeks. He stopped himself from calling it out, hoping she might surprise him—disappoint him, even—and prove his assumptions wrong. But alas, he was right.
Her mind had darted somewhere he hadn't quite expected.
