"Juste straight out," Joshua said. "I''m waiting by the entrance."


    Ste didn''t bother asking how he knew where she was. Whether it was a tracker or his security detail, he always knew exactly where to find her.


    Seeing that she had to leave, Lauretta and Antoney finally paused their intense


    wedding summit, looking a bit disappointed.


    By the time they walked out of the aquarium, the sky was already dark.


    A crisp, cool breeze swept past, and Ste and Lauretta both shivered.


    Without missing a beat, Antoney stripped off his jacket and draped it over Ste''s shoulders.


    "It''s freezing tonight, Star. Don''t catch a cold."


    He didn''t hesitate for a fraction of a second, and Ste didn''t even have time to wave him off.


    Lauretta didn''t mind the preferential treatment. Antoney and Ste had over a decade of shared history-it was a bond that felt like family, something she couldn''t possiblypete with.


    Right at that moment, Ste felt an intense, piercing stare lock onto her.


    She looked up and saw Joshua standing across the pavement, his dark eyes fixed silently on the scene unfolding in front of him.


    His face was an unreadable mask, giving away absolutely nothing.


    Ste''s heart skipped a beat, and she instinctively walked over to him.


    "Joshua."


    His eyes swept casually over the oversized jacket on her shoulders before his hand reached out to securely grasp hers.


    "Cold, Star?"


    "I''m alright," Ste said.


    "The wind is picking up. Let''s get in the car."


    Ste nodded. She said goodbye to the other two, made sure Antoney was going to drop Lauretta off safely, and slipped into the passenger seat.


    Inside the car, the air felt suffocatingly thick.


    Ste wanted to break the silence, but ncing at his icy, sculpted profile, she bit her lip.


    She could feel it radiating off him. He was not happy.


    And right then, a realization hit her.


    Joshua used to be a master at hiding his feelings. In the past, she could almost never get a read on him.


    Buttely, his emotions were bleeding through, clear as day.


    Ever since they got back to Solmaris, Ste had been going with him to his therapy sessions, and he seemed to be fully cooperating.


    He hadn''t shown any more strange symptoms since that incident where he passed out, so she had slowly let her guard down.


    But for some reason, Laurel Quinn''s words echoed in her mind.


    "Joshua''s current treatment n isn''t working anymore."


    "He needs to undergo hypnosis."


    Ste hadn''t asked Laurel what that entailed. Deep down, she selfishly didn''t want Joshua to be hypnotized either.


    Just as her thoughts were spiraling, Joshua''s voice sliced through the quiet.


    "Star, you and Antoney grew up together, right? I feel like you hardly ever talk about him."


    Ste snapped out of her daze. "Yeah, we both took piano lessons from my mom when we were kids."


    She quickly added, "He''s basically like a brother to me."


    "Why just ''like'' a brother?


    Because they didn''t actually share blood.


    Joshua kept his eyes locked on the


    road, his tone deceptively casual "Is that so Abby mentioned that he


    had feelings for your Before your married Haynes O''Brien, I heard he even wanted to marry you.


    "He found out was pregnant back then," Ste exined quickly. "He thought the baby''s father walked out on me. He just wanted to protect me from the gossip, so he offered to


    He just wanted to take


    many me. He just wa


    care of me."


    "He did care about me, but not romantically. It was a protective, family kind of love. The thing is, he had zero experience with romance, so he just didn''t know the difference."


    Taking the opportunity to clear the air, Ste began sharing a few stories from


    Antoney''s past.