Valeria’s POV

I froze at Rodrigo’s words. The sentence echoed in mind in a way I wasn't sure if be able to recover from. I turned around, turning my gaze to Dante. He stared at me, with his cigar held between his fingers as if this wasn’t quite the most embarrassing moment of my life.

Rodrigo was fuming, his chest was heaving, but his eyes, when it turned to me, contained something softer, almost desperate. “Valeria, let me get you out of here. I’ll pay whatever it costs. You ...