Chapter 171

• VALENTINA
• I stepped into the DeLuca Energy lobby just after eight, my heels clicking too loud against the polished marble. The floors caught every hurried step like a mirror, throwing my reflection back at me in pieces. My bag felt heavier than it should, stuffed with files I hadn’t even looked at yet. My head was a mess. Last night kept replaying—Adrian’s mouth on mine, his voice low and serious when he said he loved me, the way I’d kissed him back harder than I meant to, trying to erase Gustavo from my skin. And then the news this morning about Harlan. Natural causes, they said. I didn’t believe it. Not when I knew what Gustavo was capable of. The thought of him ordering something so clean, so final, made my stomach twist in ways I hated. It scared me. It also pulled at something darker inside me, something I refused to name.
• I dropped into my chair, the leather creaking under me. The office was already alive—phones ringing, keyboards clicking, people moving fast. I opened my laptop and pulled up the partnership updates just to look busy. Numbers. Dates. Safe things. Anything to keep my mind off the way my pulse jumped every time I thought about him.