Lily's POV
I tried to convince myself that work would ground me, that spreadsheets and timelines and the low hum of the office would drown out everything else. It didn’t. The moment I sat at my desk, my body felt like it was still running on a different rhythm, one set earlier that morning, one I couldn’t quite shake. My hands hovered over my keyboard longer than usual before I started typing, and even then, my thoughts kept slipping sideways, snagging on memories I didn’t want to examine too closely.
Dante had already passed my desk once, all composed efficiency and perfectly pressed sleeves, nodding at someone farther down the aisle. He hadn’t looked at me directly, not really, but I’d felt it anyway—that awareness, like a current moving under the surface. It made my shoulders tense a
