Chapter 44 Gifts

L A N A
After Dante leaves, I stay standing in the middle of the room for a while, staring at the door after it closes behind him while trying to calm my thoughts, but honestly, I can’t even keep up with them anymore. Every conversation with him leaves me feeling more confused than before, and I don’t mean confused in a bad way either, which probably makes it worse. I barely know this man, yet every time he looks at me for too long or says my name in that calm voice of his, I completely lose track of myself. It’s embarrassing actually, especially when I think about how composed he always seems while I’m over here struggling to breathe normally after basic eye contact.
Eventually, I force myself to move, leaving the meeting room and making my way back upstairs toward the bedroom I’ve been staying in since arriving here, and even that still feels strange to think about. Staying here. Living here. Waking up in this massive estate surrounded by armed guards and people who talk about underground dealings like they’re discussing grocery lists. None of this should feel normal to me, yet slowly it already is, and that thought alone follows me all the way back to my room.