Chapter 42

• Silence settled between them was thick and fragile. Neither of them moved for a moment, the weight of their conversation hanging in the space between their bodies like fog.
• Then Aria exhaled softly, her tone returning to a calm one. “I should go,” she said, her voice lighter now, though her eyes still carried a shadow of what had just passed. “I just came to check on you… see how the meeting went.”
• Dante studied her carefully, as though trying to read deeper than her words allowed. But after a pause, he nodded, the hard edges of his expression softening. “Alright,” he murmured.