FIORELLA’S POV
Rhys pressed the doorbell and stood back.
The silence between us was tense.
We waited for what felt like hours but it was only a few minutes before the door opened.
Gabrielle stepped out, her expression lighting up when she saw me.
It was good to see her again.
She looked different from the last time I saw her—glowing, even.
The shadows that used to linger behind her eyes were gone, replaced by an ease that hadn’t been there before.
Happiness suited her.
“Oh, it’s been a while, Fiorella,” she said, pulling me into a hug. “You haven’t been responding to my text since yesterday.”
There was a reason for that.
But I couldn’t tell her.
Instead, I said, “It’s a long story. Can we come in?”
She stepped aside. “Of course.”
I walked into the house, overhearing her
