Unlike Voren, Santiago Russo was not the kind of man people feared simply because of wealth or influence because his reputation wasn't built on numbers or titles but on ruthlessness and illegal dealings that left no room for mercy and no space for second chances.
No one said it out loud, but everyone in that moment could feel it, in the way his attention remained fixed on Seraphine, unbroken and intentional, like she had become the center of his focus.
Corvine felt the pressure building, the expectation hanging heavy as Santiago waited for an answer that he wasn't entirely prepared to give, his mind racing for something convincing enough to satisfy a man who clearly wasn't easy to deceive, but before he could piece anything together, Seraphine stepped in, her voice cutting through the tension with a calm clarity that immediately moved control back into her hands.
