Noah believed that he had underestimated Gianna.
The realization landed slowly, bitter, settling into his chest with uncomfortable clarity.
For all his calculations and mind machinations, the careful planning and silent rehearsals he had carried out in private, he hadn't anticipated that she would checkmate him this way, that she would overturn and thwart his plans so decisively, without even knowing them.
The irony of it pressed against his ribs, almost breathless.
But wasn't that what had drawn him closer to her in the first place?
The ambition that burned quietly beneath her calm, the not knowing her first move, the constant sense that she was always one step sideways from expectation, that she could slip out of any box he tried to place her in.
That fact—that she had taken him by surprise in the club that night—rose vividly in his mind, confirming his thoughts.
