Adrian's POV
The night was too quiet.
Not the ordinary kind of quiet the estate settled into after midnight, this was the type that pressed against the walls, like something holding its breath. The type that made every instinct in me bristle.
I stood in the underground command room, tension coiled in my shoulders as the monitors replayed hours of Gracia and Neal's intercepted conversation.
I wanted to see if there were any additional points to note before I interrogate Gracia. Her voice was steady, smooth, and in control; it felt like a blade dragged across my nerves. The betrayal ran deeper than I'd imagined.
Elena came to join me, after settling Kelly, she waited beside me, her arms crossed with her jaw tight. She kept her expression sharp, but I could feel the tremor beneath her aura, the exhaustion she tried so hard to hide.
"Play it again from the last fourteen seconds," she murmured.
I did, and again, Gracia's voice spilled from the speakers.
