ELIANA
I stood in the hallway just outside the waiting room, my back straight even though my thoughts were anything but calm.
Ariel and Enzo stood close by, one on each side like silent walls. I knew they had questions. I could see it in the way Ariel's jaw tightened and how Enzo kept glancing toward the door.
But they said nothing.
They knew better.
The moment I stepped out of that room, Mateo had followed me like a shadow.
"I want to leave," I told him quietly.
His expression didn't change.
"Don will see you before you go," he replied calmly.
"I've said everything I came to say."
"And Don has not," he answered.
Simple. Final.
So I stayed.
I began pacing slowly, my heels making soft sounds against the polished floor. Back and forth. Back and forth. Like movement could quiet the noise inside my head.
Different thoughts flooded my mind.
What was Virelli Blood doing here?
I thought they were rivals. Men who only crossed paths when business forced them to.
