Author POV

The orchestra played softly again, a graceful waltz filling the hall and smoothing over the tension that had rippled moments earlier. But underneath that polished melody, an invisible current of unease still pulsed — the kind only women understood in rooms where masks were currency.

Giovanni stood beside Gray as he spoke with a few political associates near the center of the ballroom. His hand still brushed her waist occasionally, a small reminder that she wasn’t alone. Yet the ...