Redline

I need air

Dante’s smile lingered for a few more seconds before Adrian made an exaggeratedly offended noise from across the table.

“Perfect. We don’t exist anymore.”

Olivia immediately raised her glass.

“Honestly, I’m fascinated.”

Valentina tried to ignore them as she turned her face slightly away from Dante, although the heat remained beneath her skin as if he were still far too close.

Because even after he leaned back onto the couch again, Dante’s knee still brushed against hers beneath the low table, and that quiet proximity felt far more intimate than it should have.

The music changed again, slower now, with deep bass vibrating through the glass floor of the terrace. From up there, Barcelona seemed to stretch endlessly along the dark sea, filled with golden lights reflecting across the water while massive yachts remained motionless beside the harbor like absurdly expensive toys.

The night breeze barely reached the VIP area, mixing with perfume, alcohol, and artificial smoke.

And for the first time in weeks, Valentina felt dangerously relaxed.

“This is so weird,” Olivia murmured, watching Dante over the rim of her glass.

“What is it?” he asked.

“You have social skills.”

Adrian immediately started laughing.

“THANK YOU! I thought I was the only one noticing.”

Dante barely rolled his eyes as he took another sip of whiskey.

“Everyone is very funny tonight.”

“No, seriously,” Olivia continued. “You normally look like a corporate villain about to order someone’s assassination.”

“That’s because he usually wants to,” Adrian added.

“Probably.”

Valentina laughed before she could stop herself, and Dante immediately turned his head toward her, as if the sound had captured his full attention once again.

That still threw her off.

The intensity.

The way he seemed to focus completely on her even amid all the surrounding chaos.

“You shouldn’t encourage them,” he said calmly.

“You shouldn’t be funny. We’re all confused.”

The corner of his mouth lifted slightly.

“Maybe the problem is that you don’t know me very well.”

The words fell softly, almost casually, but something in Valentina’s chest tightened again anyway.

A few yards away, several drivers had started singing badly around a table covered with empty bottles while a group of models filmed videos for social media near the glass railing. Adrian was now arguing with an Italian engineer about soccer with completely unnecessary levels of drama, and Olivia was half-sprawled across the couch, laughing at both of them.

The entire atmosphere had grown more relaxed as the night went on.

More intimate. Less artificial.

Valentina rested her elbows on the table, watching the harbor for a few seconds before speaking again.

“Are they always like this after races?”

“Worse,” Adrian immediately replied. “In Monaco, a mechanic fell asleep inside a fountain.”

“It was a very comfortable fountain,” Dante said in complete seriousness.

Olivia nearly choked on her champagne.

“You were there?”

“I found him.”

“And you helped him?”

Dante looked at her for a few seconds.

“I took a picture first.”

That completely destroyed whatever composure Valentina had left.

The laugh escaped her so quickly that she had to lower her head slightly while Olivia slapped the table and Adrian repeated, “I knew he was evil!” between bursts of laughter.

Dante simply watched her laugh.

Without speaking.

Without looking away.

With that strangely calm expression that had appeared several times throughout the night whenever she let her guard down.

Valentina eventually looked up again, still smiling slightly, and then made the mistake of holding his gaze for too long.

Because something immediately changed in Dante’s face.

The amusement was still there, yes. But underneath it appeared something else, something darker, slower. As if he had suddenly remembered how close they were sitting.

For a ridiculously long second, neither of them looked away.

Until Olivia let out a dramatic sigh.

“Oh my God, just kiss already or I’m going to start doing hard drugs.”

Olivia’s comment completely shattered the moment.

Adrian doubled over laughing while Valentina threw a napkin at her face.

“I’m going to kill you.”

“I’m just saying what everyone is seeing,” Olivia replied, still laughing. “The s****l tension in here is already paying rent.”

Dante let out a low laugh and slowly set his glass down on the table.

“What an awful image you’ve just created.”

“And yet he didn’t say he didn’t want to kiss her,” Adrian murmured.

“Novak,” Valentina warned.

“What? I’m defending love.”

“You haven’t loved a salad in your entire life.”

“That’s completely irrelevant to this conversation.”

Olivia was still laughing when one of the DJs announced something from the booth and the volume of the music rose again, literally making the floor beneath the white couches vibrate. Several people began moving toward the main dance floor, and the club’s elegant chaos swallowed the atmosphere around them once again.

Valentina took advantage of the distraction and finished her champagne in one gulp.

She needed air.

A lot of air.

Because Dante was still too close, still looking at her with that unbearably calm expression, and she was beginning to feel dangerously aware of every inch of exposed skin on her body.

“I’m going outside for a second,” she murmured as she stood.

Olivia immediately raised both eyebrows.

“Of course you are.”

“Don’t start.”

“I didn’t say anything.”

That was a lie.

She was definitely saying a lot with her face.

Valentina ignored their unbearable smiles and crossed the main terrace toward a much quieter area of the club.

A nearly empty side balcony, far from the music, with a direct view of the illuminated harbor and only a few tables occupied by people speaking quietly.