Page 18 of Corrupting Camille

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Then another.

And then the handle turns slowly, effortlessly.

My breath catches sharply as the door swings open—

And he’s there.

Waiting.

Kane

The knock comes soft.

Measured.

Not desperate. Not timid. Just... decisive.

Two raps. That’s it.

But it hits like a shot to the chest. Like a trigger pulled.

I don’t move right away.

I want her to feel it.

The pause.

The weight.

Me.

I've been standing here since the moment the key card left my hand.

Didn’t pour a drink.

Didn’t pace.

Didn’t second guess a goddamn thing.

Because I knew.

She’d come.

Not because she’s reckless, though she is. Not because she’s curious, though that too. No, she came because something in her is starving. And she knows I’m the only one who can feed it.

She came because she couldn’t not.

I didn’t force her. I didn’t lure her. I gave a key and let her decide.

That’s the game.

Let them walk themselves into the fire. Let them think they’re free.

The strongest ones, the ones with the hardest eyes, the sharpest tongues?

They kneel the fastest.

Just to prove they never will.

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