Giovanni POV

The silence in the room was beginning to feel like a living thing—heavy, suffocating, wrapping around my chest like chains. Every hour felt like a week. Every minute without Gray felt like a punishment I deserved.

Two days of unanswered calls, unread messages turning into seen messages but still ignored. Two days of pacing, crying silently into pillows, refusing food, then forcing myself to eat because Mitchell kept insisting.

Two days of torture.

I stared at my phone again. ...