Chapter 147

• GUSTAVO
• ~•~
• I kept my grip steady on Giulia’s elbow as we cut through the crowd. Voices overlapped around us—talk about pipeline margins, export tariffs, handshakes sealing deals that would keep the lights on in half the city. Glasses clinked, laughter rose in short bursts, the quartet’s strings hummed underneath it all like background noise. I steered her past a knot of investors who tried to catch my eye, nodding quick apologies without slowing down.