I stared at the screen, my expression calm, even as something inside me went completely still.
Before I could process it further, the front doors opened.
Salvatore walked in.
With Adriana right beside him.
The silver lighter was moving across his knuckles in that slow, idle rhythm, catching the overhead light once, twice.
"Everyone," he said, his voice clear and authoritative, "let me introduce our new front-operation overseer. Adriana."
So that was what he meant.
When he said we would be seeing a lot of each other.
He hadn't been exaggerating.
He had brought her directly into the Family's front operation.
As my superior.
The room fell silent.
Every pair of eyes turned toward me.
For the past few weeks, ever since the previous overseer severed ties and disappeared upstate, I had been the one handling most of the responsibilities. Everyone assumed I would move up in the ranks.
It seemed obvious.
Until now.
Salvatore added Adriana to the internal chat right there in front of everyone. Almost immediately, both of them sent messages.
Their profile pictures appeared side by side.
Matching.
A couple photo.
Smiling.
Perfect.
The implication couldn't have been clearer.