I started moving.
The parking garage lay two levels down.
I followed the signs, my steps uneven, heels clicking sharply against polished concrete as I descended the ramp.
The sound echoed faintly around me.
Cars passed in and out of the garage.
“Elena,” Vincenzo’s voice cut back through the phone, tighter now. “Send me your live location. I’ll come pick you up.”
I reached the level where he’d left me.
His matte-black SUV still sat in the reserved executive bay—long, low, and imposing, like it owned the space around it.
The key fob felt heavier in my hand than it should have.
I unlocked the car with a soft chirp, the sound echoing faintly in the empty space.
Sliding behind the wheel, I adjusted the seat quickly, then started the engine.
It roared to life beneath me—deep, powerful, almost alive.
A strange comfort.
I exhaled slowly, gripping the steering wheel with both hands as the engine settled into a steady growl.
Then I reversed.
The tires whispered softly over concrete as I eased the car out of the bay.
“I’m driving,” I said into the phone, my voice steady now, clipped. “I don’t need your help.”
“Elena...” Frustration crept into his tone. “Just send your live location already.”
“No.”
I merged into the flow of exiting traffic, following the green arrows toward the main exit.
“I’ll find my way home,” I added. “Go attend to your mistress.”
A beat of silence.
Then—
“I already left her side, okay?”
The words came faster this time.
Defensive.
But I didn’t let it soften anything.
“Doesn’t change the fact that you left me stranded in the garage like I was nothing.”
My grip tightened around the steering wheel.
“I know I mean nothing to you, Vincenzo. But at least treat me like a person.”
