Elena's POV
"Don't look at him," Damian murmured, his hand tightening at my back. "Not yet. Let him come to us on our terms, not the other way around."
I forced my gaze to stay fixed on Damian's face, my heart hammering as Victor's presence seemed to pull at the edges of my attention regardless. "Is he watching us?"
"Everyone's watching us. That's rather the point of tonight." Damian's voice stayed low, controlled, though I could feel the tension coiled through his frame beneath the practiced calm. "We keep dancing. We look exactly as unbothered as we're supposed to look."
We continued moving through the slow rhythm of the song, though every part of me now felt hyperaware of the room beyond Damian's shoulder, the low murmur of conversation shifting subtly as Victor made his way deeper
