Nothing.
All I could hear was her absence, and the memories we had built together.
Zara laughing as she tried to guide my hands to her drawings, insisting I “look properly” even though I couldn’t.
Zara curling into my side at night like she belonged there more than anywhere else in the world.
Zara’s small voice asking questions no one else bothered to answer with patience.
And Zara’s silence now.
I exhaled shakily.
I was still trapped inside the wreckage of Zara being taken when the atmosphere in the office shifted again.
Footsteps.
Unhurried. Loud enough to announce arrogance before the person even spoke.
“Well, well... look who got promoted.”
The voice was sharp with amusement, familiar in the worst way.
Bruno.
My fingers tightened almost instinctively on the edge of the desk.
I lifted my head anyway, forcing my expression into stillness.
Blindness made people assume softness. I had learned the opposite.
Stillness was control. Stillness was armour.
Inside, I was still shaking.
Bruno pulled out the visitor chair with exaggerated laziness and dropped into it like he owned the air in the room.
The chair creaked under his weight.
“Let me be very clear,” he went on, voice dropping into something almost conversational. “Being my brother’s personal assistant changes nothing. If anything, it only ensures I’m going to make your life a living hell.”
A pause.
Then a slow, amused exhale.
“Actually... the more I think about that irritating streak of defiance in you, the more entertaining this is going to be. I will most definitely enjoy torturing you.”
My jaw tightened.
I forced my voice to remain even. “I have work to do, Mr. Bruno.”
That made him laugh.
“Oh, listen to that,” he mocked. “So formal. So professional.” A pause, then I heard him lean forward slightly.
“Already settling into your position, huh? I don’t care what work you have to do or how overwhelmed you are. This is my brother’s company, and you’d do well to remember your place. When I speak, you listen.”
I ignored him. It seemed like the smartest thing to do when dealing with a man this arrogant.
