Iris’s POV
My hand moved almost on instinct, reaching for the phone as it buzzed against the counter. Marcus’s name lit up the screen, bright and insistent, as though demanding an answer I was not ready to give. My fingers barely brushed it before Victor’s hand closed gently but firmly around my wrist, stopping me.
“No,” he said quietly.
There was nothing loud or forceful in his tone, yet it carried weight. His eyes held mine, darker now, steady and unyielding. “Whatever happens tonight, you’re not leaving. You stay here. With me.”
My pulse quickened under his touch. I swallowed, trying to steady myself, but everything still felt unbalanced, unsettled. “Victor… I should at least answer him. If I don’t, he’ll start worrying.”
His thumb moved slowly over my wrist, tracing the rhythm of
