EYES LIKE KNIVES
397 Words
Matteo didn’t rise from his seat. He didn’t need to — power poured from him even in stillness. The faint tick of a grandfather clock in the corner was the only sound for several heartbeats.
Adrian moved first, leaning back against a leather armchair like this was his living room, not another man’s kingdom. “She’s with me,” he said, his tone casual but firm enough to cut through the unspoken weight in the air.
Matteo’s gaze shifted to her again, slow and deliberate. “With you,” he repeated, as if tasting the words. “That could mean a thousand things, Adrian. And you never bring anyone here unless they’re more than a passing interest.”
Her smile didn’t waver. Don’t let him read you. She’d walked into rooms with worse men, though not many. “Maybe I’m the exception to your rules,” she said lightly.
“That,” Matteo replied, “is what makes me curious.”
He stood, finally, moving around the desk. His suit was black, tailored with the kind of precision that whispered of money and danger. When he stopped in front of her, he didn’t offer a hand — just studied her face with the kind of attention that felt like being x-rayed.
“Do you play games?” he asked.
“Only the ones I win.”
Something flickered in his eyes — amusement, maybe, or the faintest thread of respect.
Adrian cut in smoothly, “Matteo, you’ll have time to interrogate her later. Tonight, I just wanted to… introduce you.”
Matteo’s lips twitched. “Introduce, or warn?”
Adrian didn’t answer.
The tension bent around them like a drawn bowstring. Then Matteo stepped back, gesturing toward the far corner of the room, where a small crystal decanter sat on a silver tray. “Drink?”
“Not unless it’s poisoned,” she said before she could stop herself.
Matteo laughed once — low, sharp, and without warmth. “You’ll do.”
She followed him toward the drinks, feeling Adrian’s eyes on her back. He hadn’t brought her here just for a social call — that much was clear. This meeting was a thread being pulled in a much larger web.
And in her head, she already knew — if she played this right, Matteo Vescari might be more than Adrian’s ally. He could be her weapon.
- Writer
