The hallway outside felt colder than before. My legs were shaking, but I didn't let myself stop.
I kept walking until I reached a corner and leaned against the cold wall. Staring at my hands, which were still now were trembling.
I took a long, shaky breath.
I had just stood up to Matteo Romano. He was not some ordinary man, but he was the kind of man who could destroy lives with a single phone call, and I had walked out alive.
But I also knew one thing with terrifying clarity: he wasn't done.
He would think about what I said. He would definitely find another way to get what he wanted.
That's how men like him worked. They didn't give up; they made others give up.
I had seen that look in his eyes before I left...the look of a man who had just discovered something he couldn't control.
Me.
And that realization scared me more than any threat could.
Because now, I wasn't just part of his plans. I was the obstacle in his plans.
