Clarissa’s POV
I woke to too many papers stacked in uneven piles across my dining table. For a moment I didn’t even understand what I was looking at. I wrapped my arms around myself, trying to stop the shaking. It didn’t work. The room felt cold even though the heater was humming.
I had built everything with my own strength and now everything I had sacrificed for was now dangling over a pit I might never climb out of. By the time the knock came at the door, my throat was already tight with panic.
I opened it to find Dante standing there, looking like he’d just walked out of a storm, shirt sleeves rolled up, tie gone, hair slightly mussed as if he’d run a hand through it too many times. He looked calm, but there was tension in his jaw that only someone who knew him could spot.
He didn’
