DOMINIC'S POV
Valeria left ten minutes later.
Not gracefully.
Not quietly either.
But eventually, she realized she wasn’t winning this conversation and walked out with the kind of smile people used right before they broke something expensive.
The second she disappeared, the tension inside the showroom shifted completely.
Silence settled between Elara and me.
I kept my hand against the small of her back longer than necessary.
Maybe because I forgot to move it.
Maybe because part of me didn’t want to.
Elara looked down briefly before stepping away carefully.
The loss of contact annoyed me instantly.
Interesting.
“You really know how to make enemies,” I muttered.
A quiet laugh escaped her unexpectedly.
Soft.
Tired.
God.
I hadn’t heard her laugh properly in years.
“She alre
