CASSIAN
I saw the movement even before they appeared.
The way Lani rushed into the ballroom, her face white as a whitewashed tomb.
She moved towards Nico.
And the urge to fucking break away from the conversation with the executives gutted me.
Three seconds later, Nico's eyes shifted slowly towards mine.
Something had fucking gone wrong with Dante.
And the thought of it—the thought that the inevitable was finally here—made the ring around my glass fade.
I dropped the glass slowly, pulling away from the crowd towards Nico.
"Say it," I drawled as Nico fell beside me, our steps mirroring the same pace.
Lani was behind, still pale, but trying to force herself into conversations I knew disgusted her.
She was trying to save the Moretti face.
Probably an act not to make the reporters in the room question a thing.
Power play.
"Ayla," Nico muttered, voice low.
The sound from the hall suddenly seemed non-existent.
I paused.
I turned subtly to Nico.
