I couldn't stop smiling.
I tried to play it cool the entire dinner, but inside, I was a mess. That man… Elias Ward? He wasn't just handsome. He was power dressed in silence, restraint wrapped in velvet. He didn't say much, but when he did — God, you listened. And when he looked at you… well, I wished he looked at me the way he looked at Luna.
No — no, not that thought again.
He invited me to dinner. I was the one seated next to him. He poured me wine. He nodded politely. So what if he didn't make eye contact much? Some people were just shy. Right?
Still…
Something was off.
Luna didn't say much all evening. She smiled, yeah, but it was that tired kind of smile she used when she wasn't feeling well. I knew her too well to miss that.
And then there was the moment — that one damn moment.
When I leaned over to joke with Elias and my hand brushed his sleeve, I swear Luna's whole body tensed. She played it off, of course, like she always did. But when she grabbed my hand under the table, it wasn't casual.
It was a warning.
I can't explain it. She squeezed my fingers, tight — too tight — and when I looked at her, her eyes weren't on me.
They were on him.
I let it go. I had to. Maybe she was just being protective, the way she always was. Maybe she thought I wasn't safe with him — though I've never felt safer than I did sitting next to that man.
Still… I couldn't shake the way Elias looked at her. Like he already owned her.
And I couldn't shake the feeling that she knew.
Later that night, when she hugged me goodbye, her voice cracked. "You deserve something good, Lila," she whispered against my hair. "Don't settle for someone who's already... gone."
What did she mean by that?
Gone where?
Gone to her?
I didn't ask. I just said thank you.
And for the first time in years, I walked away from Luna with doubt in my chest.
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