The moment Adrian left, the room changed.
The noise of the club outside faded, muffled by the heavy door, leaving behind a silence that wasn’t empty but thick, alive. It pressed in on the booth, on the two people seated within it, as though the shadows themselves leaned closer to listen.
Selene did not move. She sat perfectly still, her glass untouched, her profile calm and beautiful in the golden light. Only the faint tapping of her index finger against the stem of the glass betrayed her alertness. Her eyes, half-lidded and unreadable, flicked once toward Victor before settling back on nothing in particular.
Victor didn’t speak immediately. He let the seconds stretch into long, taut strands, knowing silence could wound as deeply as words. He watched her with that predator’s patience he
