Zane sat bent over his drafting table, the harsh glare of the desk lamp illuminating the intricate, hand-drawn lines of his latest jewelry schematic. He held a fine-tipped technical pen, but his hand had gone entirely still.
As it always did lately, his mind drifted right back to Gianna.
With a low curse, he dropped the pen, letting it roll across the expensive paper.
The morning news had been an absolute circus. The media was in a frenzy over the massive wave of arrests sweeping through the city's upper echelon—politicians, judges, and high-standing businessmen all being dragged away in handcuffs because of the data leaked from the Club's breached servers.
The headlines promised that more arrests were bound to happen within the week.
But it wasn't the political collapse that had Zane's chest tightening until it ached. It was the other headline.
By 7:00 AM, a grainy, provocative photo of Gianna and Noah at The Obsidian had already gone viral across the social media feeds.
