---Lorenzo---
The moment my eyes found hers, everything changed.
I have stood in auction halls more times than I care to count. I have watched trembling women displayed like cattle, seen alphas bare their teeth in silent bids, felt the weight of centuries of law and ritual pressing down on every breath.
None of it ever touched me.
Until her.
Until the moment Agent Sindy lifted her gaze to mine.
The world stopped.
For a heartbeat—no, for an eternity—there was only her.
Dark hair falling around her face, eyes wide, lips trembling just slightly. I could smell her from across the hall, even through the stench of fear and the thick press of too many bodies. Her scent cut through it all like lightning across a storm-dark sky. Sharp. Sweet. Pure temptation.
And then I felt it.
The pull.
