Chapter 101: Chapter 40 - Gabriella (4)

An hour and a hundred glances with Mariano across the room later, he's walking toward me with the grace of a panther who's pursuing his prey.

I've met a dozen of Meredith's friends in high society—most of them wives of politicians and business magnates, others are daughters—who looked at me with equal parts curiosity and interest. I'm the youngest in the group and most of them are my mother's age except for the Russian who's in her late twenties. The latter regards me with caution the entire time.

Still, even while meeting and engaging the new people, my eyes strayed to look for him in the crowd. He and Jax moved to a corner across the room and later, Piotr joined them; he left them a few minutes later. Their faces were completely masked and I couldn't tell if their conversation went as planned.