The shift in the room is immediate.
It seemed to close in around them, attention snapping into place with surgical precision as every movement, every glance, every inch of space between them was observed, recorded, analyzed. The air felt thicker beneath the weight of it, charged with expectation, speculation already building in the expressions of the people watching them.
Alex kept her posture flawless, her stride measured unhurried as she moved beside Callan. She was fully aware of the way his presence anchored the moment. How naturally he commanded the room without raising his voice or altering his pace.
It was something she had always resented about him. That effortless dominance, the way he existed in spaces like this as though they had been built for him. Now, standing beside him,
