Kaelen's POV
I stared at my mother, my mind going completely blank for a heartbeat before the weight of that single name crashed into me like a freight train.
"Mother," I said, my voice deliberately slow and measured. "Get your head out of the damn gutter."
She arched one perfectly shaped eyebrow. The expression was so achingly familiar it nearly broke through my composure. Nearly.
"Genevieve came here for exactly one reason," I continued, my jaw tightening. "To save your life. That's all there was to it."
My mother's lips curved into something that wasn't quite a smile, wasn't quite disapproval either. Something maddeningly unreadable that made my skin crawl.
"I was simply surprised to see her return," she said. Her tone was casual, but underneath lurked something heavier. "Especially after the catastrophe that unfolded between you two."
