Chapter 168
The look Rex gave her was heavy, loaded with the kind of disdain men usually reserved for cockroaches. Elodie didn’t need a manual to translate it. You’re trash. Sienna’s a saint. She’d seen that look a thousand times.
So she didn’t flinch. She didn’t drop her eyes. She just stared right back, cold and empty, then deliberately looked away as if he were a piece of uninteresting architecture.
Her heels clicked sharply on the marble as she walked past them. She walked parallel actually, close enough that her shoulder almost brushed Rex’s arm, treating them like they were invisible furniture.
Rex actually froze mid-step.
He’d expected shame. A guilty flush, averted eyes, something. He hadn’t expected this glacial indifference. It threw him off balance. A sneer tugged at his mouth. Unbelievable, that’s what his face said. The audacity.
Logan Brown, trailing behind like a lost puppy, looked confused. He watched Elodie strut past, then looked at his daughter, waiting for a reaction.
Sienna didn’t give one. Her steps didn’t falter. If anything, her spine straightened. She just kept walking, her gaze fixed on the revolving doors ahead.
Outside, the heat of the day was dying. And there, leaning against the hood of a matte-black SUV, was Dante.
He was checking his watch, looking bored and dangerous. When he looked up and saw the group emerging, his eyes flicked over them. He saw Rex. He saw Logan. He saw Sienna.
And he saw Elodie.
His eyes met hers for a fraction of a second. No smile. No nod. Just a blank assessment, like he was checking traffic before pulling out. Then his gaze slid off her and locked onto Sienna. The change was instantaneous. The boredom evaporated, replaced by a sharp intensity.
Elodie felt her stomach twist with a sick, familiar lurch.