CHAPTER 15: THE GATHERING
280 Words
The venue was not in the estate.
That alone changed the atmosphere.
Public.
Exposed.
Controlled visibility instead of controlled space.
Elize stepped out of the car beside Luca.
Immediately, she felt it.
Eyes.
Too many.
Too trained.
“You’re tense,” Luca said beside her.
“I’m aware of my surroundings.”
“That’s not the same thing.”
A pause.
Then he added quietly—
“Don’t mistake attention for threat.”
“That depends on who’s giving it,” Elize replied.
That earned a faint look from him.
Then they entered.
Inside, the room was already alive.
Conversations paused subtly as they walked in.
Not obvious.
But deliberate.
Elize noticed it immediately.
She wasn’t just being seen.
She was being categorized.
“Luca,” someone greeted him.
Then eyes shifted to her.
“And this must be…”
Silence.
Waiting.
Luca didn’t introduce her immediately.
That was intentional.
He let the silence stretch.
Then—
“Elize,” he said simply.
No title.
No role.
Just name.
That alone changed how people looked at her.
Not wife.
Not outsider.
Variable.
Across the room—
Elize felt it before she saw it.
A stare.
Focused.
Intentional.
Someone evaluating her beyond curiosity.
Not Luca.
Not Enzo.
Someone else.
Unknown.
And watching too closely.
Luca noticed her shift.
His voice lowered slightly.
“What is it?”
Elize didn’t look away.
“Someone here is watching me differently,” she said.
A pause.
Then Luca followed her line of sight.
And for the first time that night—
His expression changed.
Not slightly.
Noticeably.
Because now—
It wasn’t just her being evaluated.
It was shared attention.
And that meant complication
- Writer
