Impassive

5| Tension

Her mother looked at her skeptically. "Think about your future husband."
She placed the muffin back on the plate.

MATTEO

The steady hum of my laptop fan filled the otherwise quiet room. Ava was still sleeping in her room, and my fingers hovered over the keyboard, reviewing the shipment details as the flickering light from the screen cast long, uneven shadows across the polished surface of the desk. The sun had begun its slow descent outside the window, the last traces of daylight filtering through the blinds. But I barely noticed. My mind was fully occupied with the task at hand—the business. The only thing that kept me tethered to the moment, grounded in a world that didn't feel like it was falling apart. Fabio's voice crackled through the speaker, his face grainy and distorted on the screen.

I scanned the chart he'd sent. "We need to talk about the next shipment with Hugo tomorrow. The situation with the Books—how do we deal with it? We can't afford any more delays, Fabio. If things go south again, we're screwed." Books was our codename, one of many, just in case someone was listening who shouldn't be.

Fabio didn't hesitate. "But if we push too much, it'll raise suspicions. We'll have to keep a low profile for now." His response was measured, calculated. I could tell he was already weighing the risks in his head. Fabio was smart—too smart to make mistakes. "We've got everything in place on our end, Matteo. Let the small shipments go through, quietly."

I rubbed my thumb along the edge of the glass on my desk, feeling the cool surface beneath my fingertips. Thoughts swirled. The smaller the footprint, the less attention we'd attract. Less was always more. But I couldn't afford to stop, not now. Not when things were this close. "Right. Less is more. But we can't stop. Just make sure the payments are secure. The last thing we need is another breach."

Fabio nodded, his expression turning serious. "Understood. I'll send the details over in an hour."

I glanced at the clock on the wall. We didn't have time to waste. "Good."

I shifted in my seat, my mind instantly moving to the next task. But before I could focus on the stack of papers before me, the door to my office creaked open. My gaze flicked up instinctively, but I wasn't prepared for what I saw.

Ava walked in, wearing nothing but lingerie. Gone was her strange mood in the car.

For a moment, time seemed to stretch. I froze, my thoughts scattering. Shit. I had never seen her dressed like this—not in the light, not with the full awareness of what was happening between us. She didn't seem to notice my reaction—or maybe she didn't care.

"Must have starved," she said, her voice light, almost detached. Like it was completely normal for her to be standing in front of me like this, barely dressed. "Not fitting anymore."

Well, thats one way to describe it. I didn't say anything right away. I wasn't sure how to respond. She was right, the lingerie she was wearing didn't fit quite right—too tight, the fabric pulling in places it shouldn't. It was more constricting than supportive, the seams digging into her skin, but she didn't seem to mind. Hell, I surely didn't mind.

I cleared my throat, trying to regain some composure, focusing on her eyes. "It seems that way," I muttered. I hadn't really noticed the changes in her body after the hospital stay, or maybe I hadn't been paying attention. She seemed slimmer, more fragile then, but now... she had filled out in a way I hadn't expected. And something about that caught my attention. My gaze instinctively dropped for a split second before I forced myself to look away, focusing instead on the screen in front of me. But it wasn't easy.