"Understood."
I hung up, stood.
If he approached Olivia with an agenda—
My fingers clenched, knuckles white.
I wouldn't let him succeed.
Not a chance.
I turned toward the ballroom.
I had to find Olivia. I had to tell her—
Tell her what?
That Sebastian might be using her? That the person she trusts might be my enemy?
Would she even believe me?
I stopped at the ballroom entrance.
Through the glass doors, I saw her standing in the crowd, Leo beside her, Sebastian on her other side, leaning down to say something.
She smiled. Bright and genuine.
I watched that smile, and something in my chest took a brutal hit.
She smiled so easily around him. Around me, she was always wound tight.
Damn it.
I couldn't charge in like some brainless brute.
Evidence. I had to find some goddamn proof. Expose him.
I turned and walked away.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Olivia
When night fell, Sophie showed up at my door with a pillow tucked under her arm and that excited smile on her face—the same one she'd worn when we were teenagers.
"Please, Oli, just like old times," she begged, eyes sparkling. "Ella's coming too. How long has it been since we had a girls' night?"
Looking at that radiant happiness on her face, I couldn't say no. It was a kind of happiness I'd never really had—pure, uncomplicated joy. Even in the best moments with Ezio, I'd always carried this wariness, this unease I couldn't shake.
"Of course," I stepped aside to let her in. "Just like old times."
Ella arrived soon after with wine and snacks. We sat cross-legged on the bed in a circle, Leo already asleep in the next room. For a moment, everything in the manor—Ezio, Sebastian, all those lurking dangers—felt far away.
"So," Sophie poured three glasses, her cheeks flushed, "Mark wants to take me to the Maldives for our honeymoon."
"What?" Ella nearly spilled her wine. "Oh my God, Sophie!"
I looked at the ring glittering on her left hand, genuine joy rising in my chest. "I'm happy for you. Really."
